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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/a? 


The  National  Social  Science  Series 


Edited  by  Frank  L.  McVey,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

President    of   the    University    of   Kentucky 

Now  Ready;     Each,  One  Dollar 

AMERICAN  CITY,  THE.  Henry  C.  Wright.  First  Deputy 
Commissioner,  Department  of  Public  Charities,  New  York  City. 

AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONISM.  George  M.  Janes,  Professor 
of  Economics,  Washington  and  Jefferson  College. 

CAUSE  AND  CURE  OF  CRIME,  THE.  Charles  R.  Henderson* 
late  Professor  of  Sociology,  The  University  of  Chicago. 

COST  OF  LIVING,  THE.  W.  E.  Clark,  Professor  of  PoUtical 
Science,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

FAMILY  AND  SOCIETY,  THE.  John  M.  Gillette.  Professor  of 
Sociology,  The  University  of  North  Dakota. 

GOVERNMENT  FINANCE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  Carl 
C.  Plehn,  Professor  of  Finance,  The  University  of  California. 

HOUSING  AND  THE  HOUSING  PROBLEM.  Carol  Aronovici. 
Lecturer  on  Social  Problems,  The  University  of  Minnesota. 

KANSAS  COURT  OF  INDUSTRIAL  RELATIONS,  THE.  John 
Hugh  Bowers,  Professor  of  Social  Sciences,  State  Teachers' 
Normal  College,  Pittsburg,  Kansas. 

MAKING  OF  CITIZENS,  THE.  J.  G.  de  Roulhac  Hamilton 
and  Edgar  W.  Knight. 

MEANING  OF  CHILD  LABOR,  THE.  Raymond  G.  Fuller, 
National  Child  Labor  Committee. 

MONEY.    William  A.  Scott. 

MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  THE  GREAT  WAR,  THE.  Arnold 
Bennett  Hall,  Associate  Professor  of  Political  Science,  The 
University  of  Wisconsin. 


NATIONAL  EVOLUTION.  George  R.  Davies,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Department  of  Economics,  Princeton  University. 

PROPERTY  AND  SOCIETY.  A.  A.  Bruce,  Associate  Justice 
Supreme  Court,  North  Dakota. 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CITIZENSHIP.  THE.  Arland  D.  Weeks, 
Professor  of  Education,  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College. 

RURAL  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  James  E. 
Boyle,  Extension  Professor  of  Rm'al  Economy,  College  of  Agricul- 
ture, Cornell  University. 

SOCIAL  ANTAGONISMS.    Arland  D.  Weeks. 

SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT.     George  R.  D.wies. 

SOCIAL  INSURANCE  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  Gurdon 
R.VNSOM  Miller,  Professor  of  Sociology  and  Economics,  Colorado 
State  Teachers'  College. 

SOCIOLOGY.    John  M.  Gillette. 

SOME  PROBLEMS  OF  RECONSTRUCTION.  Annie  Marion 
MacLean,  Extension  Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago. 

STATE  AND  GOVERNMENT,  THE.  J.  S.  Young,  Professor 
of  Political  Science,  The  University  of  Minnesota. 

STATISTICS.  William  B.  Bailey,  Professor  of  Practical  Philan- 
thropy, Yale  LTniversity;  and  John  Cummings,  Expert  Special 
Agent,  Bureau  of  the  Census. 

SYMPATHY  AND  SYSTEM  IN  GIVING.  Elwood  Street, 
Director  of  Welfare  League,  Louisville,  and  Secretary,  American 
Association  for  Commimity  Organization. 

TAXATION.  C.  B.  Fillebrown,  late  President  Massachusetts 
Single  Tax  League. 

TRUSTS  AND  COMPETITION.  John  F.  Crowell,  Associate 
Editor  of  the  Wall  Street  Journal. 

WOMEN  WORKERS  AND  SOCIETY.   Annie  Marion  MacLean. 


American  Trade  Unionism 

By 

George  M.  Janes,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Economics,  Washington  and  Jefferson  College 

Author  of  The  Control  of  Strikes  in  American   Trade 

Unions,  The  Pilgrim  Spirit  and  Other  Essays,  Etc. 


CHICAGO 

A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1922 


Copyright 

A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 

1922 


Published  November,  1922 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

IN  VIEW  of  the  railroad  and  coal  mine  strikes 
the  policy  of  trade-unions,  as  well  as  their  or- 
ganization, becomes  a  matter  of  public  importance. 
Just  how  far  are  the  industrial  wars  of  today  due 
to  unorganized  labor,  how  much  to  the  trade-unions  ? 
While  this  book  does  not  answer  these  questions  it 
does  lay  the  foundation  for  a  better  knowledge  of 
the  trade-union  and  the  part  it  plays  in  industry. 
Professor  Janes  has  been  a  long  time  student  of 
labor  conditions  and  has  written  an  interesting  book 
that  should  prove  of  great  assistance  to  those  in- 
terested in  the  trade-union  of  today. 

F.  L.  M. 


14314G5 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 


THE  aim  of  this  little  book  is  to  present  as 
clearly  as  possible  within  the  space  allowed  the 
salient  features  of  American  trade-unionism.  Like 
all  social  movements  which  excite  the  hopes  and  fears 
of  men,  trade-unionism  has  more  often  been  the  ob- 
ject of  passionate  denunciation  or  defense  than  of 
scientific  inquiry.  But  whether  we  like  it  or  not  the 
organized  labor  movement  in  some  form  has  evidently 
come  to  stay.  There  are  no  labor  problems  in  a 
backward  country  like  Turkey,  where  repression  and 
not  ea:pression  is  the  rule.  The  trade-union  movement 
is  at  least  an  expression  of  life  and  a  desire  for  some- 
thing better  on  the  part  of  the  laborer,  and  that  is 
one  reason  among  others  why  it  is  found  in  advanced 
industrial  countries  like  England  and  the  United 
States.  Differences  of  opinion  concerning  most  sub- 
jects are  usually  the  result  of  ignorance,  and  definite 
knowledge  concerning  any  subject  is  at  least  the 
beginning  of  wisdom. 

The  material  for  this  study  has  been  gathered 
from  trade-union  documents,  by  personal  observa- 
tion through  attendance  at  trade-union  conventions, 
and  by  correspondence  and  interviews  with  trade- 
union  officials,  as  well  as  by  reading  various  books  on 


Author  8  Preface 


the  subject.  In  a  word,  a  consistent  effort  has  been 
made  to  verify  all  facts  educed  and  conclusions 
reached. 

The  author  is  indebted  to  the  Annals  of  the  Amer- 
ican Academy  (January,  1917),  and  the  Quarterly 
Journal  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota  for  per- 
mission to  use  materials  from  articles  contributed  by 
him  to  these  journals.  He  also  desires  to  express  his 
thanks  to  his  wife  for  unfailing  sympathy  and  for 
valuable  assistance  rendered. 

George  M.  Janes. 

Washington,  Pennsylvania,  July  15,  1922. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism 1 

II     Organization   and   Government 13 

III     The    Shingle    Weavers 25 

IV     The  American  Federation  of  Labor 46 

V     The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 56 

VI     Collective  Bargaining   62 

VII     Control  of   Strikes 79 

VIII     Conciliation  and  Arbitration 88 

IX     The  Trend  of  Development 101 

X     The   Union    Shop 123 

XI     Union  Policies   131 

Bibliography    139 


THE  NATIONAL  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  SERIES 


The  purpose  of  this  series  is  to  furnish  for  busy  men 
and  women  a  brief  but  essentially  sane  and  sound 
discussion  of  present-day  questions.     The  au- 
thors   have   been   chosen   with   care   from 
men    who    are    in    first-hand    contact 
with  the  materials,  and  who  will 
bring  to  the  reader  the  new^ 
est     phases     of     the 
subject. 


AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONISM 


American  Trade 
Unionism  . 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    NATURE    OF    TRADE    UNIONISM 

A  STRIKING  paradox  in  American  life  is  seen 
in  political  democracy  with  its  equality  of  all 
men  —  in  theory  at  least  —  on  the  one  hand,  and  what 
may  be  termed  absolute  monarchy  or  despotism  in 
industry  on  the  other.  The  prevalent  idea  has  been, 
and  to  a  large  extent  is  today,  that  a  man's  business 
is  his  own,  that  he  can  run  it  to  suit  himself,  and 
that  the  relation  between  employer  and  employee  is 
one  of  master  and  servant.  Wages,  hours  of  labor, 
and  conditions  of  employment  under  such  a  theory 
are  fixed  by  the  employer,  and  if  the  worker  as  an 
individual  bargainer  is  not  satisfied,  his  remedy  lies 
in  seeking  another  job.  Such  paternalism,  when  the 
employer  works  along  with  his  employees  or  knows 
every  one  of  his  workmen  personally,  may  be  tem- 
pered by  humanity,  but  in  the  present  stage  of  in- 
dustrial development  with  its  large-scale  production 
and   corporate   organization,  the  individual   is   lost 

1 


American  Trade  Unionism 


sight  of  and  becomes  a  mere  cog  in  the  machine. 
Organization  in  industry  has  necessarily  its  counter- 
part in  the  organization  of  workmen  in  trade-unions. 
The  growth  of  trade-unionism  in  the  United  States 
on  any  considerable  scale  began  about  the  time  of 
the  Civil  War  and  thus  has  been  coincident  with 
American  industrial  development.  The  development, 
organization,  and  financial  resources  of  trade-unions 
has  been  quite  marked  since  1880  and  more  espe- 
cially so  since  1897.  The  fact  is  that  it  is  only 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years  that  trade-unionism 
has  come  to  be  recognized  as  a  permanent  feature 
of  American  industrial  life,  and  that  collective  bar- 
gaining and  agreements  between  employers  and 
trade-unions  representing  the  workers  has  become  the 
usual  method  of  procedure  in  a  number  of  industries. 
In  some  circles,  however,  trade-unions  are  still  re- 
garded as  merely  the  result  of  the  work  of  irrespon- 
sible agitators  and  as  such  something  to  be  attacked 
and  crushed;  but  a  careful  study  of  the  growth  and 
development  of  trade-unionism  in  both  England  and 
America  shows  that  it  is  in  reality  a  social  movement. 
Another  fallacy  is  that  labor  unions  foment  strikes 
and  that  striking  is  the  reason  for  their  being.  To 
this  the  trade-unionist  says :  "  Young  and  weak 
unions  have  many  strikes ;  old  and  strong  ones  have 
few.  If  unions  were  mere  striking  machines,  the 
opposite  would  be  true."  The  importance  of  mod- 
eration   is    insisted    upon    by    most    labor    leaders. 


The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism         3 

Collective  bargaining  is  the  ultimate  goal  of  nearly 
all  labor  leaders,  and  to  reach  it  not  only  organiza- 
tion but  discipline  is  needed.  The  strike  is  a  weapon 
of  last  resort  in  most  cases. 

1.     Historical  Development 

The  Federal  Society  of  Journeymen  Cordwainers, 
organized  in  Philadelphia  in  1794,  is  regarded  by 
some  authorities  as  the  first  American  trade-union. 
Other  organizations  called  trade  societies  existed, 
but  very  little  is  known  concerning  them.  The  con- 
sensus of  opinion  seems  to  be  that  previous  to  1825 
none  of  the  organizations  were  trade-unions  in  the 
modern  sense.  The  Mechanics'  Union  of  Trade 
Associations  organized  in  Philadelphia  in  1827  is  said 
to  be  the  first  union  or  association  of  trades-unions 
in  the  United  States.  Various  local  unions  or  trade 
societies  united  in  other  places  and  formed  general  or- 
ganizations during  the  next  ten  years.  "  Modern 
trade-unionism  as  an  industrial  and  political  force," 
says  Professor  Commons,  "  began  with  the  coming 
together  of  previously  existing  societies  from  several 
trades  to  form  a  central  body  on  the  representative 
principle."  The  trade-union  movement  grew  to  con- 
siderable proportions  until  checked  by  the  panic  of 
1837.  This  early  movement  was  almost  unknown 
until  brought  to  light  in  recent  years  by  the  investi- 
gations of  Professor  Commons  and  other  economic 
scholars.    In  making  inquiries  concerning  this  former 


American  Trade  Unionism 


trade-union  movement  one  investigator  received  the 
reply :  "  The  laborer  did  not  need  a  union  in  those 
days ;  he  had  access  to  free  land."  But,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  trade-unionism  existed  and  attained  consider- 
able proportions  even  when  the  laborer  could  resort 
to  free  land  when  dissatisfied  with  his  wages.  The 
decade  from  1840  to  1850  was  marked  by  what  may 
be  called  a  wave  of  humanitarianism.  All  sorts  of 
reforms  and  panaceas  for  social  ills  found  their  ear- 
nest and  sincere,  if  not  wise,  advocates.  Not  until 
about  1850  did  the  workers  cease  from  seeking 
panaceas  and  begin  to  work  for  the  more  practical 
and  prosaic  purposes  of  increasing  wages  and  bet- 
tering working  conditions.  The  present-day  union- 
ism began  in  this  period.  This  is  indicated  in  the 
following  table  of  some  leading  existing  trade-unions 
and  the  dates  of  their  organization : 

Typographical   Union    1852 

Journeymen  Stonecutters    1853 

United   Hatters    1854 

Iron  Molders    1859 

Locomotive  Engineers   1863 

Lake  Seamen's  Union 1 863 

Cigar    Makers     1 864 

Operative  Plasterers    1864 

Bricklayers  and  Masons 1865 

Railway  Conductors    1868 

Locomotive  Firemen    1873 

Macliine  Printers   1873 

Iron  and  Steel  Workers 1876 

Glass  Bottle  Blowers 1876 


The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism         5 

Granite  Cutters    1 877 

Spinners'    Union    1 878 

Carpenters   and   Joiners 1881 

"  An  examination  of  seventy-four  of  the  leading 
unions  of  the  present  day,"  says  Professor  Groat, 
"shows  that  four  were  formed  prior  to  1860.  Six 
were  organized  during  the  decade  1860-1869.  In  the 
seventies  six  more  were  founded.  Prior  to  1880,  six- 
teen were  permanently  established." 

The  Bricklayers',  Masons',  and  Plasterers'  Inter- 
national Union  organized  in  1865  is  one  of  the  older 
unions  and  has  had  quite  a  typical  development. 
Agitation  for  a  national  union  had  been  carried  on 
for  some  time  by  the  various  local  unions  and  finally 
a  call  was  issued  by  the  bricklayers'  unions  of  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore  for  a  meeting  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  national  union.  The}^  had  become  assured 
that  such  a  union  was  an  absolute  necessity  for  the 
protection  and  welfare  of  the  craft  at  large  and  so 
took  the  initiative  in  calling  a  conference.  In  accord- 
ance with  arrangements  agreed  to,  each  union  elected 
a  committee  of  five  to  meet  in  conference  to  consider 
the  formation  of  a  national  union.  The  conference 
was  held  in  Painters'  Hall,  Philadelphia,  October  16, 
1865,  and  lasted  two  days,  during  which  time  an 
effective  organization  was  made,  a  constitution 
adopted,  and  a  board  of  officers  elected.  The  secre- 
tary was  directed  to  communicate  with  all  known 
local    bricklayers'    unions    throughout    the    United 


American  Trade  Unionism 


States  requesting  them  to  send  representatives  to  the 
coming  convention  to  be  held  in  Baltimore  in  Janu- 
ary, 1866.  At  this  convention  delegates  were  in 
attendance  from  local  unions  of  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, New  York  City,  Brooklyn,  St.  Louis,  Cincin- 
nati, Jersey  City,  and  Richmond.  This  meeting 
stands  for  the  effective  organization  of  the  national 
union.  Here  resolutions  concerning  the  eight-hour 
day  and  the  general  movement  for  the  reduction  of 
the  hours  of  labor  were  introduced,  discussed,  and 
adopted,  and  an  address  to  the  wage-workers  of  the 
country,  especially  the  skilled  laborers,  was  sent 
forth.  The  name  chosen  was  the  International  Brick- 
layers' Union  of  North  America,  but  this  was 
changed  at  the  1868  convention  held  in  New  York 
City  to  the  National  Brickla^^ers'  Union.  The 
masons  were  included  and  in  1883  the  name  became 
the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  International  Union  of 
America.  Then,  when  the  plasterers  were  included 
the  name  was  again  changed  in  1910  to  the  Brick- 
layers', Masons',  and  Plasterers'  International 
Union.  Up  to  1872  the  national  union  grew  rapidly 
and  then  from  1873  to  1880  a  period  of  decline  en- 
sued. The  union  was  hard  hit  by  the  panic  of  1873 
and  only  a  few  local  unions  and  a  skeleton  organiza- 
tion of  the  national  union  weathered  those  years  of 
depression.  A  virtual  reorganization  took  place  and 
since  1881,  the  growth  has  been  quite  marked.  The 
panic  of  1893,  unlike  that  of  1873,  was  weathered 


.  The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism         7 

with  comparatively  little  diminution  of  strength. 
The  use  of  arbitration  and  the  special  deputy  in 
settling  disputes  has  had  quite  a  marked  development 
in  this  union. 

^.     Definition  and  Classification 

The  question  now  arises,  What  is  meant  by  a 
trade-union?  A  trade-union  may  be  defined  as  an 
organization  of  workers  of  the  same  trade  or  several 
allied  trades  for  the  purpose  of  securing  by  united 
action  the  most  favorable  conditions  obtainable  as 
regards  wages,  hours  of  labor,  and  better  working 
conditions  for  its  members,  every  member  con- 
tributing a  stated  sum  to  be  used  for  defense  and  in- 
surance purposes.  Emphasis,  also,  should  be  placed 
on  the  fact  that  a  trade-union  is  a  continuous  associa- 
tion and  not  merely  a  temporary  mass  meeting 
brought  about  by  a  single  grievance  and,  also,  that 
this  continuous  association  is  made  up  of  wage-earn- 
ers who  have  a  common  purpose.  A  trade-union, 
then,  endeavors  to  regulate  or  control  the  industrial 
and  governmental  conditions  under  which  its  mem- 
bers work  and  live.  Changing  conditions  have 
brought  about  new  methods  and,  while  the  aim  has 
remained  the  same,  a  trial  and  error  policy  of  adapta- 
tion has  enabled  the  trade-unions  to  both  maintain 
and  improve  conditions  of  employment  for  their 
members. 

Trade-unionists  recognize  both  an  identity  and  a 


8  American  Trade  Unionism 

diversity  of  interests  between  employers  and  workers. 
A  trade  agreement,  for  instance,  in  its  making  in- 
volves a  diversity  of  interest,  but  when  made  and  put 
into  operation,  the  success  of  the  business  is  based 
on  its  favorable  carrying  out  by  both  sides.  Profits 
and  wages  both  arise  out  of  production.  In  the  mak- 
ing of  an  agreement  the  employer  seeks  as  low  a  wage 
scale  as  possible  and  the  union  as  high  a  wage  scale 
as  possible.  This  bald  statement  is  not  strictly  true 
for  there  is  on  the  one  hand  an  irreducible  minimum 
or  subsistence  standard  below  which  the  unionist  can- 
not go  and  on  the  other  hand  there  is  a  maximum 
wage  above  which  the  employer  cannot  go  without 
foregoing  all  profit.  Between  these  upper  and  lower 
levels  there  is  room  for  bargaining,  and  when  both 
employers  and  employees  are  organized,  an  approxi- 
mately satisfactory  wage  scale  for  the  time  being  at 
least  may  be  reached  by  collective  bargaining.  Trade- 
union  policy  is  frankly  an  opportunistic  and  not  a 
revolutionary  one,  the  present  industrial  order  is 
accepted  not  as  perfect  but  as  one  susceptible  of 
improvement.  The  best  obtainable  terms  of  employ- 
ment are  to  be  sought.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  and  a  few  organ- 
izations strongly  tinged  with  the  doctrines  of  social- 
ism, American  trade-unionism  may  be  fairly  compre- 
hended under  the  term  "  business  unionism." 

Another  classification  is  that  one  worked  out  by 
Professor  Hoxie  who  distinguished  five  union  types — 


The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism         9 

business  unionism,  friendly  or  uplift  unionism,  revolu- 
tionary unionism,  predatory  unionism  and  dependent 
unionism.-'  The  terms  define  themselves  and  the  point 
made  is  that  these  various  kinds  represent  forms  of 
group  psychology  —  abiding  reactions  to  the  wage 
system  and  not  mere  temporary  aberrations  from  a 
single  type.  There  is  no  doubt  that  at  the  time  Pro- 
fessor Hoxie  wrote,  his  classification  was  founded  on 
apparent  examples  and  furnished  a  good  working 
basis  for  a  descriptive  account  of  American  trade- 
unions.  But  his  theory  goes  much  further  and  asserts 
that  the  other  forms  are  not  mere  temporary  varia- 
tions of  that  type  —  business  unionism  —  which  other 
students  have  regarded  as  normal.  The  classifica- 
tion is  an  interesting  one  but  needs  definite  veri- 
fication from  the  history  of  trade-unionism.  The 
Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  according  to  their 
own  testimony  are  in  a  class  by  themselves  outside  of 
regular  trade-unionism.  The  Bridge  and  Structural 
Iron  Workers  under  the  IMcNamara  regime  resorted 
to  violence,  but  during  the  last  ten  years  have  been 
a  business  union.  The  payment  of  the  salaries  of 
officials  of  one  trade-union  by  a  stronger  does  not 
make  the  weaker  union  a  dependent  one  permanently. 
The  Shingle  Weavers'  Union,  for  instance,  received 
aid  from  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  as  shown 
in  the  following  chapter ;  the  arrangement  was,  how- 

1  Trade  Unionism  in  the  United  States,  bv  Robert  F.  Hoxie, 
pp.  45-52. 


10  American  Trade  Unionism 

ever,  only  a  temporary  one.  The  Amalgamated 
Clothing  Workers  of  America  although  not  asso- 
ciated with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and 
including  in  its  membership  many  socialists  is  on  the 
side  of  results  gained  for  its  members  a  good  example 
of  practical  business  unionism. 

Extreme  and  radical  trade-unionism  works  out  its 
own  destruction,  and,  in  the  long  run,  age  and  closer 
organization  brings  about  a  conservative  policy. 
Like  all  human  institutions,  trade-unions  have  emo- 
tional and  reasonable,  radical  and  conservative  men  in 
their  membership.  The  differences,  however,  between 
trade-unions  is  in  reality  no  greater  than  those  which 
exist  in  the  business  world  with  the  reliable  merchant 
at  the  one  end  and  the  "  fence  "  receiving  stolen  goods 
at  the  other.  Take,  for  example,  the  so-called  preda- 
tory union,  whose  officials  use  their  position  for 
extorting  money  for  their  own  pockets  from  the  em- 
ployers—  especially  contractors  —  by  thi'eatening 
strikes,  or  for  terminating  strikes.  These  officials 
inin  their  course  and  are  finally  landed  in  jail  along 
with  other  thieves  from  the  business  and  political 
world.  The  union  must  then  put  its  house  in  order 
in  the  same  way  that  a  bank  must  whose  officers 
have  stolen  its  funds.  The  greater  number  of  trade- 
unionists  like  the  great  mass  of  business  men  are  try- 
ing to  better  their  economic  condition  and  have  the 
same  average  ideas  of  ethics  and  justice  as  their 
neighbors.     The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  a  single 


The  Nature  of  Trade  Unionism        11 

union  may  at  different  times  according  to  circum- 
stances, or  as  radical  or  conservative  members  are  in 
control,  exemplify  all  five  types  of  unionism,  but, 
nevertheless,  be  in  essence  and  in  the  long  run  a 
business  union. 

3.     Aims  and  Ideals 

The  idealist  complains  that  trade-unionism  is  too 
matter  of  fact,  that  it  is  prosaic,  that  it  is  without  a 
program,  and  that  it  is  a  mere  bread-and-butter 
movement.  To  these  charges  the  trade-unionist  re- 
plies that  trade-union  policies  and  ideals  are  the 
result  of  hard  experience,  that  no  permanent  benefits 
for  the  worker  can  come  without  organization,  and 
that  permanent  organization  can  be  built  up  and 
continued  only  when  the  workers  receive  direct  eco- 
nomic benefits.  The  payment  of  dues  and  continued 
organization  are  conditioned  on  benefits  received  and, 
taking  the  industrial  world  as  it  is,  any  other  than 
an  economic  policy  would  be  suicidal.  The  extreme 
idealist  should  remember  that  one  of  the  primary 
duties  of  every  man  is  to  earn  a  living.  Thus  the 
objects  of  the  United  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and 
Joiners  are: 

To  discourage  piece  work,  to  encourage  an  apprentice 
system  and  a  higher  standard  of  skill,  to  cultivate  feel- 
ings of  friendship  among  the  craft,  to  assist  one  another 
to  secure  employment,  to  reduce  the  hours  of  daily  labor, 
to  secure  adequate  pay  for  our  work,  to  furnish  aid  in 


12  American  Trade  Unionism 

cases  of  death  or  permanent  disability,  and  by  legal  and 
proper  means  to  elevate  the  moral,  intellectual,  and 
social  condition  of  all  our  members,  and  to  improve  the 
trade. 

The  hard,  stubborn  fact  is  that  the  average  trade- 
unionist  is  a  conservative  and  an  opportunist,  and 
not  a  radical.  He  is  mildly  in  favor  of  certain  re- 
strictive and  regulative  laws,  such  as  those  concerning 
child-labor,  women's  hours  of  work,  and  accident 
compensation ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  he  is  not  inter- 
ested in  socialistic  or  doctrinaire  programs. 


CHAPTER  II 

ORGANIZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

THE  present  organization  and  government  of 
American  trade-unions  is  the  result  of  a  con- 
siderable period  of  development.  The  movement  has 
been  from  the  almost  complete  autonomy  of  the  local 
union  to  the  present-day  domination  of  affairs  by  the 
national  union.  The  need  of  discipline  has  been 
found  and  so,  with  democracy  in  the  choice  of  officials, 
there  has  come  about  that  centralized  authority  so 
necessary  for  the  gaining  of  results.  The  mass  meet- 
ing of  the  shop  has  given  way  to  the  local  union  and 
the  local  union  has  become  subordinate  to  the 
national  union. 

1.     The  Local  Union 

The  original  unit  of  organization  and  government 
in  American  trade-unions  is  the  local  union.  The 
members  include  the  workers  of  a  city  or  town  in  a 
trade  or  craft  like  that  of  the  printers,  iron  molders, 
and  cigar  makers.  In  the  railway  unions  the  members 
are  organized,  whenever  practicable,  according  to  the 
railroad  upon  which  they  are  employed.  A  local 
union  is  usually  confined  in  its  jurisdiction  to  the 
limits  of  the  city  or  town  in  which  it  is  located. 
Workers  in  outlying  districts  are  sometimes  included 

13    . 


14  American  Trade  Unionism 

when  they  are  too  widely  scattered  to  be  separately 
organized. 

According  to  Professor  Glocker: 

During  the  early  days  of  American  trade-unionism  the 
journeymen  of  each  craft  constituted  a  fairly  homoge- 
nous body,  and  each  of  the  early  local  societies  admitted 
any  worker  at  the  trade  living  in  the  territory  over 
which  it  claimed  jurisdiction.  The  division  of  labor,  the 
influx  of  foreigners,  and  the  appearance  of  women  and 
Negroes  in  industry  have  created  distinct  groups  within 
the  craft,  however,  and  have  made  necessary  in  many 
trades  the  organization  of  these  groups  into  separate 
local  unions. 

The  division  of  labor  has  led  to  separate  groups  of 
workers  in  a  given  industry  and  each  of  these  groups 
has  to  a  considerable  extent  its  own  organization. 
Most  national  unions  charter  a  separate  local. union 
for  each  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the  trade 
in  the  large  cities,  and  in  the  small  places  unite  all 
members  in  one  union.  Examples  of  this  are  found 
in  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Union,  with  separate 
local  unions  for  cutters  and  lasters,  and  in  the 
Ladies'  Garment  Workers'  Union  with  some  six  divi- 
sions according  to  the  kind  of  garment  made.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  many  national  unions  do  not  permit 
a  subdivision  of  their  membership.  The  local  unions 
are  usually  organized  into  national  unions.  The 
local  unions  of  a  city  or  district  may  also  be  federated 
in  a  city  council  or  district  union. 


Organization  and  Government         15 

2.     The  National  Union 

Like  the  states  in  the  United  States,  the  local 
unions  in  some  instances  preceded  the  national  union, 
and  in  other  and  more  numerous  instances,  were 
organized  bj  the  national  union.  Most  of  the  na- 
tional unions  grew  out  of  the  combination  of  a  few 
local  unions.  The  terms  national  union  and  inter- 
national union  designate  the  central  organization  and 
are  the  same  in  meaning,  only  that  an  international 
union  includes  local  unions  in  Canada  or  Mexico  while 
a  national  union  is  confined  to  the  United  States. 
The  rules  of  the  Glove  Workers,  for  instance,  pro- 
vide that  the  organization  shall  be  known  as  the 
International  Glove  Workers'  Union  of  America,  and 
shall  consist  of  an  unlimited  number  of  local  unions 
composed  of  persons  actually  engaged  in  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  making  of  gloves  or  mittens  —  cloth  or 
leather  —  and  who  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  international  union. 

The  national  union  thus  lays  claim  to  certain 
definite  and  specific  kinds  of  work  that  its  members 
may  do  to  the  exclusion  of  members  of  other  unions. 
These  claims  to  jurisdiction  are  especially  minute 
in  the  building  trades  and  give  rise  to  numerous  dis- 
putes as  to  what  union  should  have  control  over 
certain  pieces  of  work.  The  Brotherhood  of  Car- 
penters, for  instance,  claims 

all  journeymen  carpenters   and  joiners,  stair  builders, 
shipjoiners,  millwrights,  planing-mill  bench  hands,  cab- 


16  American  Trade  Unionism 

inetmakers^  car  builders,  or  operators  of  woodworking 
machines  ....  whether  employed  on  the  build- 
ing or  in  the  preparation  and  manufacture  of  the  ma- 
terial for  the  same. 

The  claims  to  jurisdiction  are  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  into  the  union  all  those  engaged  in  that  line 
of  work  and  at  the  same  time  of  Avarning  members  of 
other  unions  not  to  infringe  upon  this  field. 

8.     Government 

An  analogy  may  be  drawn  between  the  development 
of  government  in  the  United  States  and  that  of 
trade-unions.  The  division  of  power  among  the 
several  states  and  among  the  local  unions  is  alike, 
while  the  federal  government  and  the  national  union 
both  have  grown  in  power  at  the  expense  of  the  states 
and  the  local  unions.  The  movement  has  been  from 
states  rights  to  nationalism,  from  local  autonomy  to 
domination  by  the  national  union,  and  from  a  decen- 
tralized to  a  strongly  centralized  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

^.     Local  Government 

The  government  of  the  local  union  is  a  pure 
democracy,  every  member  having  a  vote.  The  whole 
body  of  members  coming  together  twice  a  month  or 
once  a  week  is  the  final  authority  for  the  transaction 
of  all  business  —  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial. 


Organization  and  Government  17 

The  general  meeting  may  adopt  amendments  to  the 
by-laws,  may  suspend  or  expel  a  member,  may  order 
the  purchase  of  furniture  or  other  articles,  or,  in 
some  cases  may  declare  a  strike.^ 

The  need  of  executive  action  between  meetings  has 
given  rise  to  certain  standing  committees,  the  most 
important  of  which  is  the  executive  committee.  This 
committee  exercises  a  wide  though  varying  number 
of  specially  delegated  powers,  but  any  of  its  decisions 
may  be  overruled  b}'  the  local  union.  Another  im- 
portant committee  of  the  local  union  is  the  judiciary 
or  grievance  committee,  which  considers  charges. 
Sometimes  a  special  committee  is  created  when  a 
member  is  brought  to  trial.  Another  standing  com- 
mittee is  the  membership  committee ;  another  is  the 
finance  committee,  one  of  whose  most  important 
duties  is  to  audit  the  accounts  of  the  officers  having 
charge  of  the  funds. 

Local  union  officers  usually  include  a  president, 
who  presides  at  tlie  meetings  of  the  organization,  a 
vice-president,  a  recording  secretary,  and  a  treas- 
urer. There  is  also  in  some  unions  a  financial  secre- 
tary who  keeps  account  of  receipts  and  expenditures. 
Sometimes  the  offices  of  secretary  and  treasurer  are 
combined,  especially  if  the  local  union  is  small.  The 
local  officers  are  usually  unpaid,  or  are  paid  a  nomi- 
nal sum  and  continue  to  work   at  their  trade.     In 


1  Free  use  has  been  made  of  the  admirable  monograph.  The 
Government  of  American  Trade  Unions,  by  T.  W.  Glocker, 


18  American  Trade  Unionism 

some  of  the  larger  unions  like  the  Cigar  Makers, 
which  pay  a  variety  of  benefits,  th^  financial  secretary 
receives  a  salary  but  in  such  case  he  usually  devotes 
all  his  time  to  the  work. 

Another  local  executive  officer  who  is  paid  is  the 
walking  delegate  or,  as  the  trade-unionist  prefers  to 
call  him,  the  business  agent.  This  official  is  a  local 
officer  elected  by  popular  vote,  for  a  term  ranging 
from  three  months  to  a  year,  usually  holding  office 
for  six  months.  He  acts  as  the  representative  of  the 
union  in  dealing  with  the  employer.  In  this  capacity, 
it  is  for  him  to  see  that  the  union  rules  are  not 
violated  by  the  employers,  to  present  grievances  to 
the  employers,  and  in  general  act  as  an  intermediary 
between  the  men  and  the  employers.  He  is  expected 
to  maintain  discipline  and  to  look  after  the  financial 
affairs  and  general  interests  of  the  union,  to  see  that 
members  attend  the  meetings,  pay  their  dues,  and 
keep  the  union  rules,  he  also  solicits  men  to  join  the 
union.  The  business  agent  is  at  an  advantage  in  that 
he  is  not  dependent  on  the  employer  for  his  salary 
and  so  is  able  to  cope  with  him  on  more  equal  terms 
than  a  committee  of  workers,  who  might  be  regarded 
as  troublesome  agitators  to  be  discharged  at  the  first 
favorable  opportunity.  Efficient  bargaining  power 
with  an  employer  requires  not  only  native  shrewdness 
but  also  a  practical  knowledge  of  costs  of  production 
and  of  industrial  conditions  which  can  be  gained  only 
by  business  experience.     The  business  agent  thus  be- 


Organization  and  Government  19 

comes  in  a  sense  not  only  a  labor  expert  but  also  a 
business  expert. 

No  union  official  is  more  known  by  the  general 
public  than  the  business  agent.  The  statement  that 
no  official  is  more  notorious  is  perhaps  not  too 
strong.  Strange  to  say,  however,  a  large  majority 
of  local  unions  do  not  employ  business  agents.  Prob- 
ably more  than  half  the  number  of  such  officials  are 
found  in  local  unions  of  the  building  trades.  The 
power  to  call  strikes  has  been  given  in  the  building 
trades  to  the  business  agent  who  can  call  an  imme- 
diate strike  whenever  he  finds  any  violation  of  the 
agreement  by  the  employers.  The  building  trades 
allow  strikes  without  the  consent  of  the  local  union 
because  the  frequent  shifting  of  men  from  one  build- 
ing to  another  requires  prompt  action  and  also  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  a  contract  for  the  erection  of 
a  building  is  usually  given  to  one  contractor  who 
sublets  to  many  other  contractors.  As  a  subcon- 
tractor may  work  upon  a  given  building  for  only  a 
few  days,  prompt  action  is  necessary,  and  so  a  sympa- 
thetic strike  which  ties  up  the  whole  job  is  deemed 
necessary.^  Frequently  this  power  has  been  abused 
and  used  to  extort  money  from  employers.  Dishonest 
business  agents  have  been  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 
For  this  and  other  reasons  the  power  of  the  business 
agent  is  being  restricted  even  in  the  building  trades, 

1  Carlton,  Frank  T.,   The  History  and  Problems  of  Organ- 
ized Labor,  p.  118. 


20  American  Trade  Unionis 


m 


while  in  other  trades  strike  control  is  being  vested 
more  and  more  in  the  national  union. 

5.     National  Government 

The  continued  tendency  in  American  federal  gov- 
ernment towards  making  the  various  states  merely 
administrative  units  finds  a  counterpart  in  the  de- 
velopment of  government  in  American  trade-unions 
in  respect  to  the  division  of  power  between  the  na- 
tional union  and  the  local  union.  The  growth  has 
been  towards  more  and  more  centralization.  In  some 
cases  centralization  is  so  complete  that  local  unions 
are  administered  according  to  rules  laid  down  by  the 
national  union  while  in  others  autonomy  is  still  pre- 
served to  some  extent  by  the  local  union.  The  causes 
of  this  absorption  of  power  by  the  national  union  are 
in  brief  the  need  of  uniform  administration  and  the 
need  of  some  authority  to  enforce  discipline.  The 
national  regulation  of  admission  requirements  is 
based  on  the  fact  that  accepting  a  workman,  with  a 
membership  card  from  another  local  union  demands 
uniform  regulations  concerning  membership.  The 
main  causes,  however,  have  been  the  financing  of 
strikes  by  the  national  unions,  the  negotiation  of  na- 
tional agreements  with  employers,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  nationally  administered  beneficiary  features. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  the  national  unions 
exercise  specially  delegated  powers  and  that  all 
powers  not  so  specially  delegated  are  reserved  to  the 


Organization  and  Government         21 

local  unions ;  but,  as  has  been  shown,  the  national 
unions  have  absorbed  many  powers  formerly  exer- 
cised by  the  locals. 

The  national  union  is  the  seat  of  authority  and 
this  authority  is  embodied  in  the  convention,  a  dele- 
gate body  made  up  of  representatives  from  various 
local  unions.  The  number  of  delegates  from  each 
local  union  varies,  but  generally  speaking  the  basis 
is  either  equal  representation  or  in  proportion  to 
membership.  Other  systems  also  prevail,  such  as  a 
maximum  limit  to  the  number  of  delegates  represent- 
ing one  union,  proportional  representation  for  unions 
with  less  than  the  maximum  number  or  the  basis  of 
representation  increases  as  the  delegates  of  a  union 
increase  in  number.  Some  national  unions  pay  the 
expenses  of  all  delegates  in  attendance  at  a  conven- 
tion, while  in  other  instances  the  expense  is  divided 
between  the  national  union  and  the  local  unions.  In 
some  unions  the  delegates  pay  their  own  expenses.  The 
frequency  of  conventions  varies  in  different  unions 
from  every  year  to  every  two  years  or  even  a  longer 
period  of  time.  The  Cigar  ^Makers,  for  instance, 
held  a  convention  in  1912,  the  first  to  be  held  in  six- 
teen years.  President  Perkins  said  to  the  writer  that 
the  lapse  of  such  a  long  period  of  time  between  con- 
ventions was  a  mistake  which  would  be  avoided  in  the 
future.  The  Iron  Molders  also  held  a  convention  in 
1912  after  a  five-year  period.  The  convention  has 
obvious    advantages   in   that   it   creates   enthusiasm, 


22  American  Trade  Unionism 

engenders  discussion,  and  promotes  acquaintanceship 
among  the  membership.  Leadership  is  also  promoted. 
On  the  other  hand  the  convention  is  an  unwieldy 
body,  the  length  of  the  meeting  is  too  short,  and  too 
much  time  is  wasted.  Holding  these  facts  in  mind, 
Professor  Barnett  says : 

As  a  substitute  for  a  small  and  representative  council, 
the  convention  is  an  archaic  and  inefficient  institution. 
In  session  for  only  a  week,  feted  on  every  possible  occa- 
sion by  the  entertaining  union,  with  a  membership  so 
large  as  to  make  deliberation  impracticable,  the  super- 
vision which  the  convention  can  give  the  work  of  the 
officers  is  necessarily  slight. 

These  statements  represent  the  facts,  but  an  entirely 
satisfactory  substitute  for  the  convention  is  yet  to 
be  worked  out. 

The  convention  exercises  legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial  functions.  By  it  taxes  are  levied,  appro- 
priations are  made,  strikes  are  declared,  agreements 
with  employers  are  ratified,  grievances  and  disputes 
of  local  officials  are  adjusted,  and  machinery  is  pro- 
vided for  carrying  out  its  decisions. 

The  board  of  officers  of  the  national  union  is  com- 
posed of  the  president,  several  vice-presidents,  a 
secretary,  and  a  treasurer.  The  offices  of  the  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  are  sometimes  combined.  The 
president  is  the  real  leader  and  representative  of  the 
union.  He  is  usually  elected  for  one  or  two  years 
either  by  the  convention  or  by  referendum  vote,  as 


Organization  and  Government         23 

in  like  manner  are  the  other  officials.  The  vice- 
presidents  vary  in  number  according  to  the  size  of 
the  union.  The  duties  of  the  vice-presidents  are  to 
assist  the  president  in  various  ways  and  to  act  as 
organizers  in  forming  new  local  unions  or  as  strike 
deputies  in  settling  disputes.  The  work  of  the  strike 
deputy  is  described  in  the  chapter  on  Strike  Control. 
The  secretary  and  the  treasurer  exercise  the  usual 
duties  of  those  offices.  Short  terms  and  rotation  in 
office  have  been  the  usual  rule.  Some  unions  have, 
however,  continued  their  president  in  office  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  John  Mitchell  was  president  of  the 
United  Mine  Workers  for  ten  years,  P.  M.  Arthur  of 
the  Locomotive  Engineers  for  twenty-nine  yeai"^, 
Adolph  Strasser  of  the  Cigar  Makers  for  fourteen 
years  and  his  successor,  George  W.  Perkins,  for  the 
last  twenty  years.  The  salaries  paid  vary  according 
to  the  size  of  the  union  from  a  few  hundred  to  several 
thousand  dollars  a  year  and  in  some  instances  are 
as  high  as  seven  or  eight  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
The  general  executive  board  of  a  national  union  is 
made  up  of  the  national  officers,  including  the  presi- 
dent, and,  in  some  unions,  of  additional  representa- 
tives from  the  general  membership.  The  functions  of 
the  board  are  both  administrative  and  judicial.  An 
appeal  from  a  decision  of  the  president  may  be  made 
to  the  executive  board.  The  board  levies  assessments, 
appoints  temporary  officers,  declares  strikes,  and 
may  remove  officers  for  neglect  of  duties. 


24  American  Trade  Unionism 

The  referendum  has  been  developed  among  na- 
tional unions  for  the  purpose  of  amending  the  con- 
stitution and  for  the  election  of  officers.  Both  of 
these  objects  are  sought  by  the  referendum  in  the 
absence  of  a  convention,  or  the  acts  of  a  convention 
may  be  submitted  to  a  referendum  vote  for  confirma- 
tion. The  consensus  of  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the 
referendum  has  not  been  an  entire  success  as  shown 
by  the  small  number  of  votes  on  many  questions 
submitted  but  it  is  at  least  a  democratic  method  of 
government. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    SHINGLE    WEAVERS 

THE  best  way  perhaps  of  obtaining  an  under- 
standing of  trade-unionism  in  the  United 
States  is  to  trace  the  development  and  policies  of  a 
single  union.  This  chapter  on  the  International 
Shingle  Weavers'  Union  is  a  study  at  first-hand  of 
a  single  American  trade-union.^  This  national  union, 
while  not  so  old  or  so  large  as  some  of  the  national 
unions  associated  with  it  in  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor,  is  a  typical  union  and  has  recapitu- 
lated in  its  brief  history  the  development  in  structure 
and  policy  found  in  the  older  and  stronger  national 
organizations.  In  addition  to  this,  in  its  member- 
ship and  activities  this  organization  is  confined 
largely  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  this  section  of  the 
country  especially  outside  of  California  is  an  un- 
titled field  on  the  part  of  the  economist  as  far  as 
trade-union  activity  is  concerned.  The  manufac- 
ture of  shingles  and  lumber  is  a  basic  industry  in 
Washington  and  also,  to  some  extent,  in  Oregon  and 

1  The  writer  would  here  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to 
Messrs.  J.  G.  Brown  and  W.  H.  Reid,  former  officials,  and  to 
Secretary  J.  M.  Norland  for  documents  and  information  fur- 
nished; also  to  the  delegates  who  courteously  extended  to  him 
the  privilege  of  attending  several  conventions  of  the  union 
held  at  Seattle  and  Everett,  Washington. 

25 


26  American  Trade  Unionism 

California.  The  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  in  addi- 
tion to  the  usual  policies  and  activities  of  a  trade- 
union  presents  a  very  interesting  development  in  an 
experiment  in  industrial  unionism,  a  return  to  the 
craft  system,  and  then  a  return  again  to  an  indus- 
trial form  of  organization. 

The  question  naturally  arises  why  a  worker  in  a 
shingle  mill  is  called  a  weaver  and  not,  for  instance, 
a  shingle  sawyer,  a  shingle  cutter,  or  a  shingle 
worker.  A  shingle,  as  is  familiar  to  all,  is  a  small, 
thin  piece  of  wood  used  for  covering  the  roofs  and 
sides  of  buildings.  It  is  sawed  thinner  at  one  end 
than  at  the  other,  and  in  shingling,  the  thick  ends 
of  one  row  are  placed  so  as  to  overlap  the  thin  ends 
of  the  next  row.  Weaving  shingles  is  the  process  of 
dovetailing  them  together,  after  they  are  cut,  so  as 
to  form  the  standard  commercial  bundle  of  shingles. 
Shingle  makers  are  called  weavers  because  the  work 
of  shingle  packers  in  a  measure  has  the  appearance 
of  weaving.  The  cutting  of  shingles  is  done  by  a 
machine  run  by  a  man  called  the  sawyer.  Weaving, 
or  the  packing  of  loose  shingles  into  bunches,  the 
form  with  which  we  are  familiar,  is  still  a  hand 
process.  There  has  not  been  a  machine  invented  as 
yet  which  supplants  the  deft  hand,  the  quick  eye, 
and  the  skilled  judgment  of  the  shingle  weaver.  These 
weavers  are  experts.  Examine  a  bunch  of  shingles 
(four  of  these  make  a  thousand,  the  unit  by  which 
shingles  are  bought  and  sold)  as  the  carpenter  takes 


The  Shingle  Weavers  27 

it  apart  for  shingling  the  roof  and  one  will  see  the 
unique  process  by  which  the  compact  bunch  has  been 
woven.  Now  a  wide  shingle  and  now  a  narrow  one 
makes  the  bunch  the  exact  width,  and  all  day  long 
the  weaver  stands  and  swiftly  seizes  shingle  after 
shingle  thrown  out  from  the  sawing  machine  and 
without  any  false  moves  weaves  them  into  compact 
bunches.  The  sawing  or  cutting  of  the  shingles  is 
done  by  sawyers.  A  small  mill  would  have  only  one 
sawyer  and  that  one  would  keep  several  packers  or 
weavers  busy.  Moreover,  the  process  of  sawing  is 
subsidiary  to  the  final  process  of  getting  the  shingles 
into  the  shipping  unit  or  bunch,  and  so  the  term 
shingle  weaver  has  been  extended  by  custom  till  it 
now  applies  to  anyone  who  works  in  any  department 
of  a  shingle  mill. 

1.     Early  History 

The  beginning  of  organization  among  the  shingle 
weavers  seems  to  date  from  1886  when  the  shingle 
weavers  on  the  east  coast  of  Lake  Michigan  became 
interested  in  the  general  movement  for  the  eight- 
hour  day  which  was  then  being  urged  by  organized 
labor  throughout  the  country.  The  first  shingle 
weavers'  union  was  organized  at  Muskegon,  Mich- 
igan, in  1886.  Another  was  formed  soon  afterwards 
at  Manistee,  Michigan,  farther  north  on  the  lake. 
This  district  was  at  that  time  a  large  lumber  center 
as  was  also  Wisconsin.     Very  little  data  is  at  hand 


28  American  Trade  Unionism 

concerning  this  period,  but  we  are  told  that  the  work- 
day in  shingle  mills  at  that  time  was  twelve  and  a  half 
hours.  Girls  and  boys  were  employed  together. 
Through  organization,  female  labor  in  the  mills  was 
abolished  and  a  ten-hour  day  gained.  The  organiza- 
tion was  crudely  formed  and  consequently  existed  for 
only  a  few  years.  Shingle  manufacturing  had  then 
begun  to  move  west  and  this  was  a  contributing 
factor  in  disrupting  the  attempt  to  organize  among 
the  shingle  weavers  of  the  Middle  West.  The  move- 
ment of  the  lumber  industry  westward  continued,  and 
about  1890  the  Puget  Sound  shingle  weavers  began 
to  organize.  The  West  Coast  Shingle  Weavers' 
Union  was  formed,  with  local  unions  at  Ballard, 
Tacoma,  Sedro  Woolley,  Snohomish,  Arlington,  and 
Chehalis,  Washington.  For  several  years  good  in- 
dustrial conditions  prevailed,  the  local  unions  grew 
stronger,  and  a  uniform  wage  scale  was  established. 
Taking  a  lesson  from  their  employees,  the  shingle 
manufacturers  of  Ballard,  Washington,  organized  an 
employers'  association  in  1893  and  declared  for  a  re- 
duction of  wages.  This  the  employees  answered  by 
going  on  a  strike.  The  panic  of  1893  soon  followed 
and  "  this  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the  West  Coast 
Shingle  Weavers'  Union.  Wages  went  lower  than 
ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  shingle  industry.  In 
one  place  a  cut  of  75  per  cent  was  effected."  ^  It 
was  not  until  eight  years  later  that  anything  more 

1  See  article  by  W.  H.  Reid,  Bulletin,  1915,  p.  72. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  29 

was  done  in  the  way  of  organization.  In  April,  1901, 
an  unorganized  strike  for  a  wage  increase  was  started 
at  Ballard,  Washington,  and  from  there  the  strike 
movement  quickly  spread  to  other  places.  About  the 
same  time  local  unions  were  formed  almost  simultane- 
ously in  the  states  of  Washington,  Oregon,  Mich- 
igan, and  Wisconsin.  As  a  result  of  this  activity,  a 
loose  federation  known  as  the  Grand  Council  was 
soon  organized. 

The  International  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  of 
America  was  organized  at  Everett,  Washington, 
January  8,  1903.  The  delegates  assembled  pursuant 
to  a  call  of  the  Everett  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  an  international  organiza- 
tion. Some  twelve  local  unions  were  represented  by 
delegates,  and  the  officers  of  the  Grand  Council  were 
given  seats.  A  motion  prevailed  that  all  delegates 
and  officers  of  the  Grand  Council  be  entitled  to  a  voice 
in  the  proceedings.  A  resolution  was  then  passed 
that  the  Grand  Council  be  abolished  and  merged  into 
an  International  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  and  that 
all  funds  and  property  of  the  Grand  Council  be 
turned  over  to  the  new  organization.  A  constitution 
was  adopted,  officers  were  elected,  and  The  Shingle 
Weaver  was  chosen  as  the  official  organ.  All  the 
officers  elected  were  from  Washington  except  one  of 
the  vice-presidents  who  was  a  member  of  a  local  union 
in  Michigan  thus  giving  that  section  representation.^ 

1  The  Shingle  Weaver,  February,  1908,  p.  1. 


30  American  Trade  Unionism 

A  charter  was  issued  in  March  by  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  the  new  international  union 
thus  took  its  place  in  the  ranks  of  organized  labor. ^ 
The  further  history  of  the  organization  will  be  given 
not  minutely  or  chronologically,  but  by  a  compre- 
hensive examination  of  the  more  important  phases 
of  its  development. 

^.     Structure  and  Government 

The  structure  and  government  of  the  Shingle 
Weavers'  Union  is  much  like  that  of  other  trade- 
unions.  The  primary  unit  is  the  local  union,  then 
comes  the  international  union,  with  the  peculiarity 
that  the  latter  is  divided  into  three  districts.  Like 
the  states  in  the  United  States,  the  local  unions  in 
some  instances  preceded  the  international  union,  and 
in  other  and  more  numerous  instances,  were  organized 
by  the  international  union.  The  International 
Shingle  Weavers'  Union  reserves  the  right  to  fix, 
regulate,  and  determine  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  local  unions,  while  to  the  latter  is  conceded  the 
right  to  make  all  necessary  laws  for  local  government 
which  do  not  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the  interna- 
tional union.  A  charter  may  be  issued  to  seven  or 
more  skilled  shingle-mill  employees  in  any  city  or 
town.  Local  unions  are  entitled  to  representation 
in  the  convention  of  the  international  union  accord- 
ing to  the  following  apportionment:     Local  unions 

1  The  Shingle  Weaver,  April,  1903,  p.  8. 


The  Shingle  Weavers 


with  100  members  or  less,  2  delegates ;  for  each  addi- 
tional 50  members,  or  major  fraction  thereof,  1 
delegate.  The  voting  strength  of  the  delegates  is 
one  vote  for  each  delegate.  Convention  expenses  of 
delegates  are  paid  by  the  local  unions  they  represent. 
Only  members  in  good  standing  are  eligible  to  election 
as  delegates  or  alternates.  The  president  and  secre- 
tar^^-treasurer  of  the  international  union  are  dele- 
gates-at-large  to  all  conventions,  with  one  vote  each, 
but  they  cannot  be  delegates  from  local  unions  of 
which  they  may  be  members.  The  officers  of  the  in- 
ternational union  are  a  president,  a  secretary-treas- 
urer, and  in  the  district  in  which  the  international 
headquarters  are  located  three  vice-presidents :  all  of 
these  are  members  of  the  International  Executive 
Board.  The  president  and  secretary-treasurer  are 
salaried  officials,  while  the  others  are  paid  according 
to  work  done.  Voting  for  officials  is  done  at  the 
meetings  of  the  local  unions  and  the  result  reported 
to  the  international  convention  which  ratifies  the 
same  or  proceeds  to  an  election  if  this  vote  is  not 
decisive.  The  Executive  Board  consists  of  the  presi- 
dent, vice-presidents,  and  secretary-treasurer ;  this 
body  has  general  supervision  of  the  business  of  the 
international  and  local  unions  and  is  vested  with 
power  to  carry  out  its  own  rulings.  Referendum 
voting  has  been  the  rule  for  some  years  and  the 
Executive  Board  has  power  to  name  a  period  of 
twenty  days  in  which  local  unions  may  vote  on  ques- 


32  American  Trade  Unionism 

tions  submitted  for  referendum  vote,  and  local  unions 
may  vote  during  this  time  only.  All  questions  are 
mailed  from  international  headquarters  at  least  ten 
days  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  voting  period.  On 
account  of  the  wide  territory  included  in  the  shingle 
industry  and  the  consequent  possible  divergence  in 
interests,  various  districts  have  been  established.  Dis- 
trict No.  1  includes  the  territory  north  of  the  Cali- 
fornia line  and  Avcst  of  the  Missouri  River.  District 
No.  2  includes  the  timber  districts  east  of  the  Mis- 
souri River.  District  No.  3  includes  the  territory 
south  of  the  northern  California  line.  Each  district 
has  the  power  to  adopt  its  own  wage  scale,  nominate 
and  elect  its  own  officers.  The  presidents  of  districts, 
so  elected,  act  as  general  organizers  for  their  respec- 
tive districts.  Each  district  has  power  to  pass  such 
laws  and  regulations  as  do  not  conflict  with  the  inter- 
national constitution.^  District  No.  1,  on  account 
of  the  westward  trend  of  the  industry,  has  become  the 
leading  one.  Of  the  forty-three  local  unions  con- 
tributing to  the  treasury  of  the  international  union 
from  December  1,  1914,  to  March  31,  1916,  thirty- 
four  were  located  in  District  No.  1,  eight  in  District 
No.  2,  and  one  in  District  No.  3.^  International 
headquarters  are  located  in  Seattle  and  so  this  dis- 
trict and  the  "  international  union  are  essentially 
synonymous. 

1  Constitution,  1916;  Proceedings,  1916,  p.  8. 

2  Report  of  Secretary-Treasurer,  1917. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  33 

3.      The  Wage  Scale 

The  making  of  a  wage  scale  is  perhaps  the  most 
important  part  of  the  work  of  the  international 
union.  The  scale  is  made  at  the  international  con- 
vention by  a  committee  made  up  for  that  purpose. 
The  results  arrived  at  by  the  connnittee  are  reported 
to  the  convention  and  are  taken  up  item  by  item  and 
approved,  disapproved,  or  amended.  The  1914  wage 
scale,  for  example,  was  as  follows :  Filers,  depending 
on  kind  of  machines,  $5.50  to  $8.50  per  day  ;  saAvyers, 
also  depending  on  kind  of  machine,  $-i.50  to  .$5.50 
per  day,  with  provision  for  piece  work  if  preferred ; 
knee-boltermen,  dependent  on  macliine,  $3.50  to 
$5.00  per  day,  with  provision  for  piece  work  if  pre- 
ferred ;  dragsawyers,  cut-off-men,  and  power-bolter- 
men,  $3.00  to  $3.50  per  da}^ ;  knotsawyers  and  clip- 
permen,  not  less  than  $3.50  per  day;  jointermen,  not 
less  than  $4.50  per  day;  packers,  eight  and  a  half 
cents  per  thousand  for  16-inch  shingles,  with  some 
exceptions  as  to  machines  at  certain  speed  and  vary- 
ing conditions  of  work  when  the  packer  receives  more. 
The  wage  scale  is  a  minimum  scale  and  does  not  pre- 
vent any  member  working  under  unfavorable  condi- 
tions from  receiving  more.  Marked  deviations  are, 
however,  made  on  the  advice  of  the  International 
Executive  Board.  The  wage  scale  is  made  up  for  the 
year,  and  after  the  convention  an  effort  is  made  to 
get  the  employers  to  accept  it.     Trade  agreements 


34  American  Trade  Unionism 

directly  with  individual  employers  have  been  urged 
as  a  policy  to  be  pursued.^ 

The  reservation  of  the  right  to  work  by  the  day  or 
piece  is  usually  made,  and  this  brings  up  the  question 
which  for  many  years  has  been  a  subject  of  much 
controversy  in  this  international  union.  The  wage 
scale  committee  in  1915  recommended  the  elimination 
of  the  piece  system,  but  a  negative  vote  was  regis- 
tered.    The  committee,  however,  said : 

This  committee  recommends  that  the  convention  re- 
affirm our  belief  in  the  abolition  of  the  piece-work  system 
as  being  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  our  organ- 
ization.^ 

The  trade-unionist  knows  by  bitter  experience  that 
if  very  high  wages  are  made  on  piece  work,  the  rate  is 
cut  and  greater  exertion  is  necessary  in  order  to 
make  what  he  had  made  before.  The  result  is  a  con- 
tinued speeding  up  without  a  break  in  the  vicious 
circle.  Even  if  the  rate  is  not  cut,  the  speeding  up  is 
such  that  only  the  strongest  can  keep  the  pace.  The 
"  speed  merchant "  as  he  is  called,  is  young  and 
strong  and  can  stand  the  pace  for  a  few  years,  but 
only  for  a  few  years,  and  then  is  thrown  on  the  indus- 
trial junk  heap.  One  extremist  says:  "The  piece- 
work system  is  without  doubt  the  invention  of  the 
devil.     The  system   is   hideous.      Strange  as   it  may 

1  Proceedings,   1914,  p.  4;  1916,  p.  8;  1917,  pp.  6,  66. 

2  Ibid.,   1915,  p.  1. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  35 

seem,  men  otherwise  intelligent  become  fools.  Under 
the  piece-work  system  men  willingly  and  readily  con- 
sent to  a  lengthening  of  the  working  time  and  fool- 
ishly resent  a  shortening  of  the  working  day,  ignor- 
antly  thinking  that  it  would  cut  their  wages."  ^ 

^.     Collective  Bargaining 

The  enforcement  of  the  wage  scale  and  thus  the 
recognition  of  the  union  —  collective  bargaining  — 
is  perhaps  the  main  end  of  union  organization.  The 
Shingle  Weavers'  Union  has  been  forced  by  circum- 
stances to  be  a  militant  organization  throughout  its 
history.  Industrial  conflicts  are  costly  to  both  the 
union  and  the  manufacturers.  President  Brown  said: 
"  It  is  not  the  part  of  wisdom  on  the  part  of  either 
side  to  settle  controversies  by  the  crude  method  of 
the  strike  and  lockout.  But  when  either  side  takes 
an  arbitrary  stand  and  refuses  to  deal  with  the  other, 
this  means  of  reaching  a  decision  must  be  resorted 
to."  2  From  time  to  time  campaigns  of  what  may 
be  called  "  union  busting "  have  been  waged.  The 
idea  is  given  out  that  unions  are  a  menace  and  should 
therefore  be  crushed.  These  campaigns  are  usually 
waged  during  periods  of  hard  times,  or  when  there  is 
a  suspected  weakness  in  the  union  organization.  The 
premises  seem  to  be  that  unionism  is  the  result  of  the 
work  of  a  few  agitators ;  an  employer  has  the  right 

1  The  Timber  Worker,  January  31,  1914,  p.  1. 
-  Proceedings,  1917,  p.  6. 


36  American  Trade  Unionism 

to  run  his  business  as  he  pleases,  and,  especially,  no 
outside  influence  is  to  be  tolerated;  therefore,  all 
trade-unions  should  be  abolished.  One  manufacturer 
writes :  "  Our  great  free-born  American  Republic, 
apparently,  has  begun  to  open  its  eyes  to  the  fact 
that  it  has  become  a  race  of  slaves  and  is  taking  the 
first  steps  towards  throwing  off  the  union  yoke."  ^ 
Still  others  say  that  the  union  is  a  labor  trust  and 
that  labor  leaders  are  misleaders  and  that  the  eight- 
hour  day  and  the  union  shop  are  all  wrong.^  Organ- 
ization on  the  part  of  employers  is  a  good  thing,  but 
on  the  part  of  the  employees  it  becomes  a  menace  to 
our  great  and  glorious  country.  This  idea  of  abso- 
lute monarchy,  however,  is  hardly  workable  in  the 
light  of  growing  democracy.  In  England  trade- 
unionism  has  had  a  longer  history  than  in  this  coun- 
try, and  collective  bargaining  is  recognized  as  the 
logical  method  of  settling  differences,  and  the  em- 
ployer does  not  consider  it  beneath  his  dignity  to 
bargain  with  his  workmen.  The  attitude,  however, 
towards  the  Shingle  Weavers'  Union,  has  been  for  the 
most  part  that  of  open  or  veiled  hostility.  A  curious 
paradox  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  manufacturers 
do  the  exact  thing  they  bitterly  denounce  the  union 
for  doing.  For  instance,  at  a  meeting  of  the  West 
Coast  Lumbermen's  Association  at  Seattle  in  July, 
1916,    at    which   the   writer    was    present,    different 


1  The  Shingle  Weaver,  January,  1904,  p.  10. 

2  Ibid.,  May,  1906,  p.  5. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  37 

speakers  argued  against  the  union  label  and  the  union 
shop.  The  chief  arguments  against  the  union  shop 
were  that  it  was  un-American,  unfair,  and  discrim- 
inatory. Peculiarly  illuminating,  however,  was  the 
plan  to  get  all  manufacturers  to  work  together  and 
to  buy  only  from  firms  standing  for  the  ideas  enum- 
erated. A  merchant  soliciting  trade  should  be  asked 
if  his  name  appears  on  the  directory  of  union  oppo- 
nents and  if  not,  then  no  trade.  The  union  shop  is 
bad  on  the  union  side  because  it  involves  coercion,  but 
on  the  employers'  side  the  merchant  whose  name  is  not 
in  the  directory  of  trade-union  opponents  should  come 
to  time  or  else  lose  business.  In  other  words,  a  black- 
list should  be  made  of  those  not  supporting  the  pro- 
gram of  union  smashing.  It  was  also  apparent  that 
any  manufacturer  paying  more  than  the  association 
wage  scale  would  be  in  disfavor  with  his  fellow-manu- 
facturers. The  union  bogey  conjured  up  by  a  fertile 
imagination  is  indeed  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made, 
but  its  creators  should  at  least  come  into  court  with 
clean  hands.  Extremes  breed  extremes  and  the  ex- 
treme animosity  shown  by  some  manufacturers  is  per- 
haps the  reason  for  much  of  the  bitterness  shown  at 
times  by  trade-unions  in  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

The  increasing  concentration  of  capital  in  the  lum- 
ber industry  and  the  organization  of  the  manufac- 
turers into  various  associations  made  it  increasingly 
difficult  for  the  shingle  weavers  —  being  the  only 
branch  of  the  lumber  industry  organized  and  repre- 


38  American  Trade  Unionism 

senting  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  men  employed  — 
to  hold  their  own  against  the  growing  forces  on  the 
side  of  the  employers.  This  condition  raised  the  ques- 
tion of  organizing  all  the  workers  in  the  lumber 
industry.  After  a  good  deal  of  discussion  and  on  the 
advice  of  John  Mitchell  and  other  labor  leaders,  it 
was  decided  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  the  union 
and  to  organize  all  workers  in  the  lumber  industry  on 
a  departmental  plan.  The  shingle  weavers  as  organ- 
ized, with  those  working  around  shingle  mills  not 
previously  eligible  included,  were  to  constitute  one 
department,  the  men  employed  in  sawmills  were  to 
constitute  another  department,  and  the  woodsmen,  a 
third  department  —  the  idea  being  to  combine  in  one 
organization  the  best  features  of  both  the  craft  form 
and  the  industrial  form  of  organization.  The  con- 
vention of  1913  voted  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  union  so  as  to  include  all  wage-workers  in  the 
lumber  industry.  This  was  approved  by  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor,  and  a  charter  was  granted 
to  the  new  organization  with  the  title  of  the  Inter- 
national Union  of  Shingle  Weavers,  Sawmill  Workers 
and  Woodsmen.-^  The  official  title  was  shortened  at 
the  1914  convention  to  that  of  International  Union 
of  Timber  Workers.  Assistance  in  organizing  the 
sawmill  workers  and  woodsmen  was  given  by  the 
United  Mine  Workers  while  for  some  time  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor  paid  the  salaries  of  two 

1  Proceedings,  1913,  p.  8. 


TJie  Shingle  Weavers  39 

special  organizers.  The  removal  of  the  tariff  on 
forest  products,  the  outbreak  of  war  in  Europe, 
and  the  consequent  depression  in  business  obstructed 
the  growth  of  the  new  industrial  union  and  so  in 
1916  the  Shingle  Weavers  relinquished  jurisdiction 
over  the  Timber  Workers  to  another  union  and 
became  a  craft  union  again  under  the  old  name  of 
the  International  Shingle  Weavers'  Union.  Sub- 
stantial aid  was  given  by  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  during  this  period  of  transition.^ 

5.     Strikes 

Strikes  by  the  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  have  been 
frequent,  some  being  successful  and  others  unsuccess- 
ful as  in  the  history  of  other  unions.  A  strike  is 
usually  the  weapon  of  last  resort  in  enforcing  the 
recognition  of  the  union,  the  acceptance  of  a  wage 
scale,  or  the  establishing  of  better  working  condi- 
tions. The  Shingle  Weavers  found  by  experience 
that  many  manufacturers  would  be  fair  and  grant 
reasonable  demands  but  for  the  coercive  tactics  of 
one  or  two  large  manufacturers.^  In  such  cases  the 
strike  is  the  only  resource.  A  typical  strike  in  its 
inception,  although  with  a  tragic  accompaniment, 
was  the  Everett  one  of  1916.  The  convention  of 
1916  reenacted  the  1914  wage  scale  (outline  in  an- 
other paragraph)   with  slight  modifications.     Many 

^Proceedings,  1916,  p.  8;  1917,  p.  13. 
2  The  Shingle  Weaver,  July,  1906,  p.  1. 


40  American  Trade  Unionism 

manufacturers  accepted  the  scale  aijd  continued 
operation.  Some  twenty  shingle  mills  in  Everett  and 
some  in  other  places  refused,  however,  to  raise  wages 
by  restoring  the  1914  wage  scale.  Beginning  in 
May  there  ensued  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  con- 
tinuing for  almost  a  year.  Like  all  industrial  strug- 
gles, it  was  costly  to  both  the  union  and  the  manu- 
facturer. The  union  persisted  in  the  fight  although 
its  membership  was  at  the  lowest  ebb,  and  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  it  was  entirely  without  funds,  and  that 
industrial  conditions  were  none  too  good.^ 

The  struggle  at  Everett,  because  of  certain  inci- 
dents, ceased  in  its  course  to  remain  an  ordinary 
although  long-drawn-out  strike,  but  became  in  its 
essence  a  social  struggle  marked  by  turmoil  and  mur- 
der. Lines  were  tautly  drawn  with  the  strikers  on 
one  side  and  the  manufacturers  on  the  other;  it  was 
either  all  black  or  all  white  with  no  neutral  shades. 
Disputes  arose  as  to  picketing  and  the  making  of 
speeches  on  certain  street  corners.  The  use  of  cer- 
tain areas  for  gatherings  or  for  speech-making  was 
forbidden.  The  assertion  was  made  with  some  evi- 
dence of  truth  that  the  manufacturers  had  usurped 
the  powers  of  the  city  government  and  were  running 
the  city  through  the  Everett  Commercial  Club.  Into 
this  state  of  affairs  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World,  those  storm  birds  of  the  labor  world,  pro- 
jected themselves   without  leave   or  invitation   from 

1  Proceeditif/s,  1917,  p.  6. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  41 

anybody.  Gathering  together  in  considerable  num- 
bers they  appeared  in  Everett  and  began  to  exercise 
the  right  of  free  speech  so  dear  to  the  heart  of  a 
radical  especially  when  it  is  forbidden.  The  irate 
citizens  thereupon  compelled  them  to  run  the  gaunt- 
let of  clubs  and  sticks  and  drove  them  out  of  town 
with  the  command  not  to  return.  The  I.  W.  W.'s, 
bruised  and  battered,  threatened  vengeance  and  said 
they  would  put  Everett  "  on  the  map."  The  next 
Sunday,  November  5,  1916,  a  number  of  them  came 
to  Everett  on  the  daily  boat  from  Seattle.  A  con- 
siderable number  of  citizens  and  officials  were  there 
ready  to  meet  them  and  as  the  boat  neared  the  docks 
shots  were  fired  and  a  number  on  both  sides  were 
killed.  Which  side  fired  the  first  shot  was  never 
legally  determined.  One  man  out  of  seventy-five 
workers  arrested  was  brought  to  trial  and  the  result 
was  a  verdict  of  not  guilty.  The  other  cases  were 
dropped.  The  defendant  and  his  fellow-prisoners 
secured  the  sympathy  of  organized  labor  and  of  some 
citizens,  not  because  they  were  I.  W.  W.'s,  but  be- 
cause whether  rightly  or  wrongly  these  groups  viewed 
the  case  as  one  of  free  speech  and  the  right  of  peace- 
ful assemblage,  or,  at  any  rate,  they  condemned  the 
lawlessness  of  the  self-constituted  citizens'  commit- 
tees which  led  up  to  the  tragedy. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  little  in  common  be- 
tween the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  with  their 
revolutionary  program,  and  a  business  union  like  the 


42  American  Trade  Unionism 

Shingle  Weavers'  Union.  The  officials  of  the  Shingle 
Weavers'  Union  complain  that  the  union  has  had  no 
important  contest  with  the  employers  in  years,  but 
this  so-called  organization  has  taken  an  uninvited 
part  always  with  ensuing  disastrous  consequences. 
One  official  says :  "  Organizers  in  the  efforts  to  col- 
lect dues  find  a  great  handicap  in  places  where  there 
are  one  or  two  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  They  are 
even  worse  than  scabs,  for  scabs  will,  as  a  rule,  keep 
their  mouths  shut.  An  I.  W.  W.  never  will.  I  hope 
it  may  be  possible  for  this  convention  to  take  some 
action  that  may  define  the  position  we  should  take 
with  the  membership  of  this  organization."  ^ 
The  following  rule  was  passed: 

Failure  or  refusal  upon  the  part  of  any  member  of 
the  I.  S.  W.  U.  of  A.  to  cease  membership  in  the  Indus- 
trial Workers  of  the  World  can  only  be  construed  as 
violation  of  the  laws  of  this  union  and  must  be  followed 
by  revocation  of  his  card  in  the  International  Shingle 
Weavers'  Union  of  America. ^ 

6.     The  Eight-Hour  Day 

The  eight-hour  day  as  an  ideal  to  be  worked  for 
has  been  emphasized  throughout  the  development  of 
the  Shingle  Weavers'  Union.  Back  in  1906  the 
slogan  read :  "  Eight  hours  and  day's  work."  But 
on  account  of  various  circumstances  the  ten-hour  day 


1  Proceedings,  1917,  pp.  10,  17. 

2  Ibid.,  1917,  p.  75. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  43 

prevailed.  In  1917  the  conditions  seemed  advan- 
tageous for  securing  a  reduction  of  hours.  The 
Everett  strike  had  passed  into  history,  war  work  was 
creating  a  demand  for  labor,  and  the  shingle  industry 
was  recovering  from  the  long  depression.  Accord- 
ingly, the  regular  convention  and  a  special  convention 
in  1917  declared  for  the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour 
day  with  wages  in  accordance  with  a  revised  scale. 
Along  with  this  request,  recognition  of  the  union 
and  the  hiring  of  men  not  secured  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  mill  through  the  International  Em- 
ployment Office  located  in  Seattle  was  asked  for.  The 
reasons  given  for  this  action  were  substantially  as 
follows : 

1.  The  eight-hour  day  is  now  quite  generally  ob- 
served and  applied  in  all  specialized  industries. 

%.  The  shingle  weavers  now  do  in  practically  all 
cases  50  per  cent  more  work  and  in  some  cases  100 
per  cent  more  in  each  day  than  was  done  with  the 
same  machinery  and  with  usually  better  timber 
twenty  years  ago. 

3.  The  industry  is  now  in  a  prosperous  condition 
and  the  introduction  of  the  eight-hour  day  would  in 
no  wise  be  burdensome  to  the  employers. 

4.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  as  many  hours  each 
year  could  be  worked  on  an  eight-hour  day  basis  as 
on  a  ten.  In  fact  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the 
eight-hour  day  would  exert  a  stabilizing  influence  on 
the  whole  industry. 


44  American  Trade  Unionism 

5.  To  these  economic  arguments  must  be  added  the 
bad  effects  on  the  health  of  the  worker  of  the  long 
hours  in  the  poisonous  cedar  dust. 

A  number  of  mills  went  on  the  eight-hour  basis  and 
other  mills  gradually  followed  suit  and  the  eight- 
hour  day  was  finally  attained.  The  movement  also 
spread  into  other  branches  of  the  lumber  industry 
and  involved  larger  issues  growing  out  of  the  need  of 
war  products  by  the  federal  government  a  considera- 
tion of  which  would  lead  too  far  afield  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  study.-^ 

Changed  industrial  conditions  that  put  a  premium 
upon  shingle  weavers  and  made  the  ruling  wages 
higher  than  the  international  union  scale  promoted 
a  revival  of  union  spirit.  Several  new  local  unions 
were  formed,  and  the  Shingle  Weavers'  Union  entered 
on  an  era  of  growth  and  prosperity.  The  same  thing 
was  true  concerning  the  International  Union  of  Tim- 
ber Workers  which  had  become  a  separate  organiza- 
tion in  1916.  The  feeling  grew  that  these  two 
international  unions  should  be  amalgamated  and  thus 
form  one  union  with  undivided  strength.  Accord- 
ingly a  joint  convention  of  the  two  unions  was  held 
in  March,  1918,  and  an  amalgamation  was  brought 
about.  The  name  of  Timber  Workers  was  taken  and 
the  old  1914  constitution  of  the  Timber  Workers, 
with  some  changes,  was  adopted  by  the  new  organiza- 

1  Proceedings  of  Special  Convention,  1917,  and  Circular  Let- 
ter. 


The  Shingle  Weavers  45 

tion.  The  belief  seemed  to  be  that  "  the  opportunity 
for  better  understanding  of  needs  of  the  men  in  the 
mills  and  camps  Mill  be  augmented  bj  the  closer 
relationship  which  will  come  as  a  result  of  this  amal- 
gamation." ^  The  International  Shingle  Weavers' 
Union  of  America  thus  ceased  to  exist  as  a  separate 
union  but  its  aims  and  policies  outlined  in  this  study 
persist  in  the  larger  organization  of  the  International 
Union  of  Timber  Workers. 


^Proceedings  of  Joint  Convention,  1918,  pp.  3-6. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  AMERICAN  FEDERATION  OF  LABOR 

As  THE  local  unions  are  organized  into  national 
i\.  and  international  unions  along  single  trade 
lines,  so  the  national  and  international  unions  are 
combined  in  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  which 
is  a  loose  federation  of  unions.  The  Federation  was 
organized  in  1881  and  in  a  few  years  supplanted  the 
Knights  of  Labor  which  was  a  universal  labor  union. 
The  primary  basis  of  organization  recognized  is  the 
trade  or  craft.  The  Federation  has  thus  emphasized 
the  autonomy  of  the  national  and  international 
unions. 

1.     Structure 

The  essential  feature  of  the  Federation  is  the 
establishment  of  national  and  international  unions 
based  upon  a  strict  recognition  of  the  autonomy  of 
each  trade.  Membership  is  confined  to  trade  groups 
arid  does  not  embrace  individuals  directly.  It  con- 
sists of  such  trade  and  labor  unions  as  shall  conform 
to  its  rules  and  regulations.  Delegate  bodies  known 
as  city  centrals  and  state  branches  are  provided  for. 
A  city  central  or  a  central  labor  union  is  a  delegate 
body  made  up  of  representatives  from  the  various 
local  unions  of  the  city  or  vicinity  whose  national  or 

46 


The  American  Federation  of  Labor      4)7 

international  organizations  are  affiliated  with  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor.  A  state  branch  or 
state  federation  is  made  up  of  delegates  from  local 
unions,  city  centrals,  and  various  councils. 

Another  division  of  the  Federation  is  that  of  de- 
partments composed  of  national  and  international 
unions  of  the.  same  industry  which  are  affiliated  with 
the  Federation.  Local  unions  of  which  there  are  not 
enough  to  form  a  national  union  may  affiliate  directly 
with  the  Federation.  These  bodies  are  known  as 
local  trade  and  federal  labor  unions.  Thus  the  list 
of  organizations  affiliated  with  the  Federation  April 
1,  1921,  was  as  follows: 

National  and  International  Unions 109 

Departments    5 

State  Branches 48 

City  Centrals    970 

Local  Trade  and  Federal  Labor  Unions .  .  987 

Total  Number  of  Unions 2,1 19 

The  109  national  and  international  unions  repre- 
sent 37,000  local  unions.  The  total  paid-up  member- 
ship reported  at  the  convention  of  1920  was 
4,078,740.  The  real  membership  is  probably  some- 
what larger,  as  some  of  the  local  unions  are  what  is 
known  as  "  tax  dodgers  "  and  do  not  pay  dues  for 
their  full  membership.  Several  national  unions  are 
not  affiliated  with  the  Federation  and  their  member- 
ship would  swell  the  number  of  trade-unionists.     At 


48  American  Trade  Unionism 

this  writing,  June,  1921,  it  may  be  roughly  estimated 
that  between  five  and  six  million  wage-earners  are 
members  of  American  trade-unions. 

'2.     Government 

The  source  of  authority  of  the  Federation  is  the 
convention  which  meets  annually  on  the  second  Mon- 
day in  June.  The  basis  of  representation  in  this  con- 
vention is :  for  loss  than  4,000  members,  1  delegate ; 
4,000  or  more,  2  delegates ;  8,000  or  more,  3  dele- 
gates ;  16,000  or  more,  4  delegates ;  32,000  or  more, 
5  delegates,  and  so  on.  All  dues,  however,  must  be 
paid.  The  vote  at  the  convention  is  by  division  or  a 
show  of  hands,  but  if  a  call  of  the  roll  is  demanded 
by  one-tenth  of  the  delegates  present  each  delegate 
casts  one  vote  for  every  one  hundred  members  or 
major  fraction  thereof  which  he  represents.  No  city 
or  state  federation  is,  however,  allowed  more  than 
one  vote.  Deijartments,  city  centrals  or  federations, 
state  branches  or  federations,  and  local  trade  and 
federal  labor  unions  are  allowed  one  delegate  each. 
Federal  local  unions  located  in  one  city  may  unite 
and  send  one  delegate. 

The  International  Typographical  Union  at  the 
convention  of  1919  was  represented  by  6  delegates 
and  had  108  votes  for  each  delegate  except  the  sixth 
who  had  107,  or  647  in  all.  The  Brotherhood  of 
Carpenters  and  Joiners  had  8  delegates  and  3,079 
votes.     The  Machinists  had  6  delegates  and  2,546 


The  American  Federation  of  Labor      49 

votes.  The  United  Mine  Workers  had  8  delegates 
and  3,938  votes.  The  Stove  Mounters  had  1  dele- 
gate and  19  votes.  The  statement  has  been  made 
that  under  this  system  of  voting  a  group  of  the 
larger  unions  control  the  policies  of  the  Federation 
and  that  the  more  radical  members  fret  over  what 
they  term  an  oligarchical  rule. 

The  complete  representation  at  the  convention  of 
1920  was  as  follows: 

UNIONS  NAMES  DELEGATES       VOTES 

99  National  and  International 328  38,704 

*A  Departments     4  4 

29  States    29  29 

119  Centrals    119  119 

92  Trade  and  Federal  Unions.  ...  90  155 

4  Fraternal   Organizations 5  3 


347  575  39,014 

The  officers  of  the  Federation  are  a  president,  eight 
vice-presidents,  a  secretary,  and  a  treasurer.  All 
elective  officers  must  be  members  of  a  local  organiza- 
tion connected  with  the  Federation.  President  Gom- 
pers,  for  instance,  is  a  member  of  the  Cigar  Makers' 
Union.  The  headquarters  of  the  Federation  are  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Executive  Council  includes  all  the  officers  of 
the  Federation.  The  work  of  the  eight  vice-presi- 
dents is  confined  to  this  council.  Besides  general 
administrative  work,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  council  to 


50  American  Trade  Unionism 

watch  legislative  measures  affecting  the  interests  of 
wage-earners  and  also  to  initiate  labor  legislation 
under  the  direction  of  the  convention.  The  organiza- 
tion of  new  unions,  the  unification  of  all  labor  organ- 
izations for  the  purpose  of  mutual  assistance  in  any 
trade  dispute,  and  the  assistance  in  cases  of  griev- 
ance of  all  local  trade  unions  holding  charters  direct 
from  the  Federation  are  also  a  part  of  the  work  of 
the  council. 

3.     Departments 

At  present  there  are  five  departments  subordinate 
to  the  Federation.  These  are  the  Building  Trades 
Department,  the  Metal  Trades  Department,  the  Min- 
ing Department,  the  Railroad  Employees'  Depart- 
ment, and  the  Union  Label  Department.  Each 
department  manages  and  finances  its  own  affairs,  but 
only  organizations  affiliated  with  the  Federation  are 
eligible  to  membership  in  any  department  and  all 
rules  and  policies  must  conform  to  those  of  the  Fed- 
eration. Each  department  is  thus  considered  as  the 
official  method  of  the  Federation  for  transacting  the 
portion  of  its  business  indicated  by  the  name  of  the 
department.  A  quarterly  report  of  work  done  is 
made  by  the  officers  of  the  various  departments  to  the 
Executive  Council.  Besides  this,  an  officer  of  each 
department  must  attend  all  regular  meetings  of  the 
Executive  Council  of  the  Federation.  The  Building 
Trades  Department  includes  some  eighteen  national 


The  American  Federation  of  Labor      51 

and  international  unions  and  a  number  of  local  and 
state  councils.  Among  the  unions  included  are  the 
Asbestos  Workers,  Bridge  and  Structural  Iron 
Workers,  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  Electrical  Work- 
ers, Painters,  Decorators,  and  Paperhangers,  and 
Plumbers  and  Steam  Fitters.  A  large  part  of  the 
work  of  this  department  is  the  adjustment  of  disputes 
with  employers  and  the  settlement  of  jurisdictional 
disputes  between  the  various  unions. 

The  Metal  Trades  Department  includes  such  na- 
tional unions  as  the  Machinists,  Blacksmiths,  Boiler 
Makers,  Iron  Molders,  Pattern  Makers,  and  Stove 
Molders.  The  formation  of  local  councils  and  the 
settlement  of  trade  disputes  are  some  of  its  functions. 
During  the  World  War  this  department  increased 
greatly  in  membership  and  did  good  work  in  helping 
to  bring  about  the  settlement  of  a  large  number  of 
labor  disputes. 

The  Mining  Department  is  made  up  of  such  unions 
as  the  United  Mine  Workers,  the  Mine,  Mill,  and 
Smelter  Workers,  the  Brotherhood  of  Steam  Shovel 
and  Dredgemen,  and  the  Association  of  Machinists. 
The  object  of  the  department  is  the  greater  unity  of 
all  its  workers  and  the  furtherance  of  the  principle 
that  "an  injury  to  one  is  the  concern  of  all." 

The  Railway  Employees'  Department  includes 
those  unions  of  workers  on  the  railroads  outside  of 
the  brotherhoods,  and  comprises  the  national  and  in- 
ternational unions  of  the  blacksmiths,  clerks,  boiler 


52  American  Trade  Unionism 

makers,  and  freight  handlers.     A  department  official 
says: 

The  object  of  tliis  department  shall  be  to  enhance 
the  welfare  of  the  railroad  employees,  to  aid  in  more 
closely  organizing  all  such  employees  and  to  encourage 
such  organizations  to  affiliate  with  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor.  It  shall  be  the  aim  to  use  its  good 
offices  in  assisting  affiliated  national  and  international 
organizations  in  adjusting  any  dispute  arising  over  a 
question  of  jurisdiction. 

System  federations  are  organized  and  the  interests 
of  railroad  employees  looked  after. 

The  Union  Label  Trades  Department  includes  all 
national  and  international  unions  using  union  labels, 
shop  cards,  and  working  buttons.  The  work  of  the 
department  is  to  give  information  where  union-made 
goods  can  be  procured  and  to  persuade  union  mem- 
bers to  buy  only  such  goods.  Merchants  are  also 
solicited  to  keep  union-made  goods.  The  advertising 
of  label  goods  is  another  part  of  its  work.  The  work 
has  brought  good  results,  but  it  is  said,  rather  un- 
gallantly  perhaps,  that  most  of  the  buying  is  done  by 
the  women  and  that  the  price  and  not  the  label  con- 
trols purchases.  Some  fifty  unions  use  labels  while 
about  ten  use  cards. 

4.     Functions  and  Policies 

Contrary  to  the  notion  of  some  people,  the 
American    Federation    of   Labor    has    no    power    to 


The  American  Federation  of  Labor      53 

initiate  strikes.  Such  power  is  confined  strictly  to 
the  national  and  international  unions  affiliated  with 
the  Federation.  The  Executive  Council  of  the  Fed- 
eration has  power  to  declare  a  levy  of  one  cent  per 
member  per  week  on  all  affiliated  unions  for  a  period 
not  exceeding  ten  weeks  in  any  one  year,  to  assist  in 
the  support  of  an  affiliated  national  or  international 
union  engaged  in  a  protracted  strike  or  lockout.  Only 
in  one  instance  is  the  Federation  connected  with  the 
initiation  of  a  strike.  The  local  trade  and  federal 
labor  unions  directly  affiliated  with  the  Federation 
receive  financial  assistance  only  when  a  strike  vote 
has  been  first  authorized  and  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Executive  Council  of  the  Federation.  These 
disputes  usually  involve  only  local  issues. 

The  settlement  of  jurisdictional  claims  —  the  right 
to  a  trade  —  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  essential 
questions  in  the  work  of  the  Federation.  No  charter 
can  be  granted  to  a  national  union  without  a  positive 
and  clear  definition  of  the  trade  jurisdiction  claimed 
by  the  applicant,  and  the  charter  is  not  granted  if 
the  jurisdiction  claimed  is  a  trespass  on  the  juris- 
diction of  existing  affiliated  unions  without  the 
written  consent  of  such  unions.  The  Marine  En- 
gineers, for  instance,  received  a  charter  after  pro- 
tests from  several  national  unions  as  to  division  of 
work  and  an  agreement  in  regard  to  the  same.  (See 
Chapter  IX.)  A  change  of  name  or  any  extension 
of  jurisdiction  by  an  affiliated  union  must  likewise 


64  American  Trade  Unionism 

be  approved  by  the  Federation.  These  disputes  as 
to  what  particular  union  should  do  a  piece  of  work 
are  a  sign  of  weakness  and  the  remedy  seems  to  be 
either  in  industrial  unionism  or  in  a  closer  federation 
of  trades.  The  various  departments  of  the  Federa- 
tion indicate  the  trend  of  development. 

For  many  years  the  Federation  published  a  list 
of  firms  unfair  to  organized  labor  under  the  title, 
"  We  Don't  Patronize."  This  in  some  cases  has  been 
held  to  be  illegal.  For  instance,  the  Buck  Stove  and 
Range  Company  case  arose  out  of  a  boycott  of  the 
goods  of  that  company.  Samuel  Gompers,  John 
Mitchell,  and  Frank  Morrison,  officials  of  the  Federa- 
tion, were  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  having 
violated  an  injunction  of  the  court  by  publishing  the 
name  of  the  concern  in  the  "Unfair  List"  or  "We 
Don't  Patronize  "  in  the  American  Federationist.  A 
settlement  was  made  with  the  company  but  although 
the  case  was  pushed  by  the  American  Anti-Boycott 
Association,  it  was  finally  dismissed  upon  a  technical- 
ity by  the  Supreme  Court.  The  sentence  of  im- 
prisonment was  not  carried  out.  The  "  Unfair  List  " 
has,  however,  been  discontinued  in  the  American 
Federationist. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  as  it  is  today,  is  the  result  of 
forty  years  of  development.  Its  organization  along 
trade  lines,  a  consistent  policy  of  leaving  local  differ- 
ences alone,  and  an  emphasis  on  common  interests 


The  American  Federation  of  Labor      55 

have  made  it  the  strongest  labor  organization  in  this 
country.  Strong  leadership  is  perhaps  another 
reason  for  its  growth.  Samuel  Gompers  has  been 
president  since  1884  with  the  exception  of  one  year 
— 1894.  Thus  a  continuous  policy  has  been  carried 
out.  The  emphasis  has  been  on  the  practical  — 
"more  now"  has  been  the  motto.  An  opportunistic 
policy  has  enlisted  the  adherence  of  the  rank  and  file. 
Politics  have  been  avoided  except  in  the  sense  of  "  Re- 
membering our  friends  and  punishing  our  enemies," 
and  trade-unionists  are  members  of  all  parties.  No 
line  of  political  cleavage  has  been  allowed  to  create 
factions.  A  distinct  labor  party  under  American 
conditions  has  been  regarded  as  impracticable  al- 
though a  labor  party  outside  of  the  Federation  has 
been  launched.  Socialism  has  been  regarded  as 
visionary.  There  is,  of  course,  an  element  which  re- 
gards the  Federation  as  too  consei'vative,  but  these 
people  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  get  into  the 
saddle.  What  changes  the  present  unrest  in  indus- 
trial and  social  life  will  bring  about  in  the  Federation 
remains  to  be  seen. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS   OF   THE   WORLD 

OVER  against  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  stands  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World,  an  antagonistic  organization.  The  I.  W.  W., 
as  it  is  generally  called,  is  a  radical  and  revolution- 
ary organization  which  stands  for  much  the  same 
kind  of  ultra-radicalism  as  seen  in  French  syndical- 
ism and  Russian  Bolshevism.  The  definite  aim  of  the 
movement  is  to  unite  all  workers  in  "  one  big  union." 
Trade  or  craft  lines  are  rejected  and  all  workers  arc 
called  upon  to  organize  together  against  the  power  of 
capitalism.  Industrial  unionism  and  not  trade- 
unionism  is  said  to  be  the  key  to  the  labor  problem. 

1.     Historical  Dez^elopment 

Organized  at  Chicago  in  1905  the  I.  W.  W.  was 
made  up  of  such  labor  groups  as  the  Western  Fed- 
eration of  Miners,  the  Socialistic  Trade  and  Labor 
Alliance,  the  United  Metal  Workers,  the  American 
Labor  Union,  and  the  United  Brotherhood  of  Rail- 
way Employees,  all  radical  organizations.  All  work- 
ers regardless  of  craft  or  nationality  were  to  be  ad- 
mitted. The  organization  was  an  attempted  union  of 
heterogeneous  and  incongruous  elements.  In  its  early 
history  it  was  a  battle  ground  for  various  socialistic 

56 


The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World     57 

factions  and  several  groups  have  been  eliminated 
after  much  bitter  struggle.  The  pendulum  has  swung 
from  socialistic  theory  to  direct  action  and  anarch- 
istic theory.  The  idea  of  having  leaders  has  been 
repudiated  in  favor  of  the  "  collective  membership," 
but  "  nevertheless  the  I.  W.  W.  has  been  led  and 
misled  by  leaders  ever  since  its  inception."  Par- 
liamentary socialists,  opportunists,  Marxists,  an- 
archists, industrialists,  and  even  craft  unionists  have 
all  struggled  for  supremacy. 

The  socialist  politicians,  such  as  Daniel  de  Leon, 
Eugene  V.  Debs,  and  A.  M.  Simons  were  eliminated 
and  the  organization  repudiated  any  political  action. 
The  revolutionary  trend  of  the  movement  is  thus 
stated : 

The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  noth- 
ing in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger 
and  want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people 
and  the  few  who  make  up  the  employing  class  have  all 
the  good  things  of  life.  Between  these  two  classes  a 
struggle  must  go  on  until  the  workers  of  the  world 
organize  as  a  class,  take  possession  of  the  earth  and  the 
machinery  of  production,  and  abolish  the  wage  system. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  further  declaration : 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wages 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner 
the  revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage 
system."  It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class 
to  do  away  with  capitalism.     The  army  of  production 


58  American  Tirade  Unionism 

must  be  organized,  not  only  for  the  everyday  struggle 
with  capitalists,  but  also  to  carry  on  production  when 
capitalism  shall  have  been  overthrown.  By  organizing 
industrially  we  are  forming  the  structure  of  the  new 
society  within  the  shell  of  the  old. 

2.     Structure  and  Government 

The  unit  of  organization  is  the  Local  Industrial 
Union.  This  embraces  all  the  workers  of  a  given  in- 
dustry in  a  given  city,  town,  or  district.  Various  de- 
partments are  also  created  in  closely  allied  industries. 

In  the  general  organization  the  General  Executive 
Board  composed  of  one  member  from  each  Indus- 
trial Department  is  given  great  power  and  has  entire 
responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the 
organization  between  conventions.  This  board  issues 
all  charters,  supervises  the  entire  work  of  the  or- 
ganization, audits  the  books  of  the  general  office, 
and  levies  special  assessments.  This  board  or  hier- 
archy constitutes  the  organization.  The  system  of 
government  is  thus  a  strongly  centralized  one. 

3.     Policies 

The  I.  W.  W.  believe  that  the  ends  justify  the 
means  and  use  any  and  all  tactics  that  will  get  the 
results  sought  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and 
energy.  The  tactics  used  are  determined  solely  by 
the  power  of  the  organization  to  make  good  in  their 
use.  One  official  says :  "  The  question  of  right  or 
wrong  does  not  concern  us." 


The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World     59 

The  relation  between  the  worker  and  the  employer 
is  regarded  in  the  light  of  an  armed  truce  so  long  as 
the  wage  system  lasts.  No  agreements  covering  a 
period  of  time  are  allowed.  Strikes  are  called  when- 
ever success  is  probable  and  an  agreement  would 
prevent  a  strike  during  the  busy  season  or  a  rush 
period. 

The  belief  is  held  that  the  day  of  successful  long 
strikes  is  passed.  Under  all  ordinary  circumstances 
a  strike  that  is  not  won  in  four  to  six  weeks  cannot  be 
won  by  remaining  out  longer.  An  employer  can  fight 
one  strike  lasting  six  months  better  than  a  succession 
of  short  strikes. 

Force  is  esteemed  as  the  only  weapon  by  which  to 
gain  concessions  and  if  a  strike  is  lost,  work  should 
be  resumed.  Sabotage,  or  striking  on  the  job,  is  the 
policy  recommended.  Another  name  for  the  same 
thing  is  "  Ca  canny,"  or  taking  it  easy.  But  even 
more  than  that  is  included,  such  as  throwing  a 
monkey  wrench  into  the  machinery  or  putting  sand 
into  the  fabric  as  was  done  in  the  silk  mills  of  Pater- 
son.  Anything  that  will  cause  a  loss  to  the  employer 
is  recommended. 

The  I.  W.  W.  is  a  militant  oi'ganization  and  sel- 
dom avoids  a  conflict.  In  November,  1909,  the 
authorities  of  Spokane,  Wash.,  ordered  the  arrest 
of  all  I,  W.  W.  speakers  who  attempted  to  hold  street 
meetings.  The  order  was  resisted  and  the  I.  W.  W. 
members  were  asked  to  put  Spokane  "  on  the  map  " 


60  American  Trade  Unionism 

with  the  result  that  they  poured  into  Spokane  from 
all  directions.  Some  five  hundred  were  put  in  jail 
but  more  kept  coming.  A  hunger  strike  ensued. 
Finally  street  speaking  was  allowed  by  the  author- 
ities. The  relation  of  the  I.  W.  W.  to  the  strikes  of 
other  unions  is  described  in  the  chapter  on  The 
Shingle  Weavers. 

4-     Tendencies 

Private  property  and  the  right  to  private  prop- 
erty are  regarded  as  middle-class  inventions  to  be 
abolished.  In  the  new  world  arising  from  a  general 
strike  thei'e  will  be  no  authority  either  of  the  state  or 
of  the  employers.  The  workers  will  be  associated  in 
small  groups.  All  work  will  be  regarded  as  of  the 
same  value.  This  idea  is  a  quasi-anarchistic  one  and 
similar  to  that  of  syndicalism. 

As  to  the  movement,  Mr.  J.  G.  Brooks  says : 

The  I.  W.  W.  taps  labor  strata  not  only  lower  than 
those  of  the  trade  union,  but  still  lower  than  those  from 
which  socialism  generally  gets  its  recruits.  It  appeals 
to  youth,  to  the  most  detached  and  irresponsible,  to  those 
free  to  follow  a  life  of  adventure.  It  appeals  to  those 
who  rebel  at  the  discipline  of  the  trade-union.  It  easily 
becomes  a  brother  to  the  tramp  and  the  outcast.  Every 
difference  which  a  heterogeneous  and  unassimilated  im- 
migration means  for  the  United  States  will  advantage 
the  I.  W.  W. 

Most  students  of  the  organization  believe  that  it 
has  made  a  good  deal  of  noise  and  achieved  very  small 


The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World      61 

results.     Professor  Hoxie  in  a  discriminating  study 
says: 

It  has  succeeded  in  impressing  itself  upon  the  popu- 
lar imagination  as  a  mysterious^  incalculable  force  likely 
to  appear  and  work  destruction  at  any  time  and  place. 
It  has  terrified  the  public  because  its  small  body  of 
irresponsible  and  foot-loose  agitators  scent  trouble  from 
afar  and  flock  to  the  point  where  social  rupture  seems 
to  be  for  the  moment  imminent.  They  are  like  Mor- 
gan's raiders.  By  rapidity  of  movement  and  sheer 
audacity  they  have  created  the  impression  of  a  great 
organized  force.  But  in  reality  they  are  incapable  of 
anything  but  spasmodic  and  disconnected  action. 

In  conclusion,  the  I.  W.  W.  has  always  been  numer- 
ically weak  in  eifective  membership ;  it  has  been  torn 
by  internal  conflicts  since  its  first  convention;  its 
financial  resources  are  limited  and  the  character  of  its 
membership  is  such  that  little  money  can  be  counted 
on.  At  the  present  time,  most  of  its  leaders  are  in 
jail  or  have  fled  to  Russia.  The  future  of  the  organ- 
ization is  problematic,  a  destructive  program  has  led 
it  into  the  wilderness.  It  has,  however,  called  atten- 
tion to  the  conditions  of  the  casual,  migratory,  and 
unskilled  worker  and  thus  pointed  out  an  acute  social 
problem.  Such  conditions  breed  radicalism.  Like- 
wise, an  employer  who  refuses  to  deal  with  a  con- 
servative  union  may  be  confronted  by  a  radical 
organization. 


CHAPTER  VI 

COLLECTIVE    BARGAINING 

NOWHERE  is  the  statement  that  one  man  is  no 
man,  better  exemplified  than  in  modern  indus- 
try. The  expansion  of  industry  has  been  such  that 
the  single  worker  has  become  a  mere  cog  in  the 
machiner3\  A  corporation  employing  ten  thousand 
men  may  discharge  one  employee  and  its  working 
force  is  reduced  only  one-tenthousandth  while  the 
man  thus  losing  his  job  is  at  a  loss  of  100  per  cent. 
The  corporation  continues  with  little  diminution  of 
output;  the  laborer  unless  he  finds  another  job  at 
once  gets  no  return.  The  labor  of  today  if  it  is  not 
employed  cannot  be  kept  over  until  tomorrow.  The 
factory  may  discharge  all  its  workers,  be  closed  for  a 
time,  and  then  be  opened  again,  and  through  in- 
creased demand  or  higher  prices  or  both,  regain  what 
has  been  lost. 

A  president  of  a  great  railroad  system  has  said 
that  in  the  early  days  of  his  administrative  work,  he 
knew  every  man  on  the  small  railroad  over  which  he 
was  then  placed  and  Jack  or  Jim  could  see  him  at  any 
time.  This  simple  condition  has,  however,  passed  in 
the  field  of  large  industry. 

Even  in  a  small  industry,  the  individual  bargainer 
is  at  a  disadvantage.    John  has  worked  faithfully  for 

62 


Collective  Bargaining  63 

a  year  or  more  and  thinks  he  is  entitled  to  an  in- 
crease of  wages.  The  employer  tells  him  that  he  can't 
afford  it,  that  he  is  losing  money,  and  that  instead  of 
raising  wages,  he  is  thinking  of  letting  some  of  his 
men  go.  John  urges  that  liis  department  has  made  a 
good  showing,  but  the  employer  declares  that  the 
business  as  a  whole  is  a  losing  proposition ;  as,  how- 
ever, John  has  been  with  him  a  long  time  and  is  a 
good  workman  he  will  continue  to  employ  him  at  the 
same  wages  as  before.  John  has  no  other  job  at 
hand,  so  he  decides  to  continue,  and  may  even  re- 
gard his  emploj^er  as  a  kind-hearted  philanthropist 
who  is  simply  in  business  for  the  benefit  of  his 
employees. 

The  trade-unionist  believes  that  under  present  in- 
dustrial conditions  the  individual  bargainer  places 
himself  in  the  position  of  a  helpless,  rudderless  craft 
on  a  tempestuous  sea. 

The  expansion  of  industry,  the  disadvantages  of 
the  individual  bargainer,  and  association  among  em- 
ployers have,  therefore,  brought  about  the  trade- 
union  with  its  insistence  on  collective  bargaining  and 
the  idea  of  industrial  democracy.  This  involves  an 
agreement  between  the  employers  and  the  workers, 
and  includes  the  fixing  of  wages,  hours  of  labor,  and 
conditions  of  employment.  This  standard,  however, 
is  based  on  as  clearly  applicable  rules  of  work  and 
pay  as  possible.  A  method  providing  for  changes  in 
the  character  of  the  work  or  for  the  making  of  new 


64  American  Trade  Unionism 

commodities  is  usually  worked  out.  An  examination 
of  several  typical  agreements  will,  perhaps,  best  show 
what  is  involved  in  collective  bargaining. 

1.     National  and  District  Agreements 

The  working  out  of  a  general  agreement  involves 
an  employers'  association  on  the  one  hand  and  a 
trade-union  or  workers'  association  on  the  other. 
General  agreements  have  been  worked  out,  for  in- 
stance, between  the  International  Typogi'aphical 
Union  and  the  American  Publishers'  Association ;  be- 
tween the  Stove  Founders'  National  Defense  Associa- 
tion and  the  Iron  Holders'  Union ;  between  the 
Brotherhood  of  Operative  Potters  and  the  United 
States  Potters'  Association ;  between  the  Amalga- 
mated Clothing  Workers  of  America  and  the  Clothing 
Manufacturers'  Association ;  and  between  the  United 
Mine  Workers  and  Coal  Operators'  Associations. 

Collective  bargaining  in  these  instances  has  been 
successful  because  both  sides  meet  and  thresh  out 
together  the  various  differences  and  finally  reach  a 
working  agreement.  Such  agreements  usually  pro- 
vide for  the  adjustment  of  all  disputes  as  is  shown  in 
the  chapter  on  Conciliation  and  Arbitration. 

i?.     The  United  Mine  Workers 

The  collective-bargaining  system  of  the  United 
Mine  Workers  has  been  in  operation  for  a  number  of 
years  and  although  interrupted  by  the  strike  of  1919 


Collective  Bargaining  65 

is  a  good  example  of  the  successful  working  out  of  the 
trade  agreement.  An  annual  joint  conference  be- 
tween the  mine  operators  and  the  representatives  of 
the  union  has  been  held  and  is  known  as  the  Interstate 
Joint  Conference.  The  national  union  is  divided  into 
district  unions  and,  subject  to  the  constitution  of  the 
national  union  and  the  legislation  of  the  national  con- 
vention, the  district  union  generally  has  jurisdiction 
over  a  particular  state.  Under  the  authority  of  the 
national  union  the  various  district  unions  enter  into 
agreements.  A  typical  example  is  an  agreement  be- 
tween the  Washington  Coal  Operators'  Association 
and  representatives  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America  and  their  District  No.  10  as  to  a  scale  of 
prices  and  rules  and  conditions  for  a  two-year  period 
beginning  in  1916  and  also  providing  that  the  parties 
to  the  contract  should  meet  in  Seattle,  Washington, 
on  the  fourth  Monday  in  July,  1918,  for  the  purpose 
of  formulating  another  agreement.  The  agreement 
applied  only  to  the  mines  operated  in  the  state  of 
Washington.  The  right  to  hire  and  discharge,  the 
management  of  the  mine,  and  the  directing  of  the 
working  force  are  vested  exclusively  in  the  companies 
and  the  United  Mine  Workers  are  not  to  abridge  this 
right ;  employees,  however,  are  not  to  be  discharged 
on  account  of  personal  prejudice  or  union  activities. 
An  eight-hour  day  and  a  six-day  week  are  provided 
for  with  the  exception  of  some  classes  of  workers.  A 
complete  day  wage  scale  is  worked  out  for  employees 


66  American  Trade  Unionism 

both  inside  and  outside  the  mine.  The  price  of 
powder  is  fixed,  and  rules  concerning  the  furnishing 
of  tools  are  made.  A  provision  for  regular  pay  days, 
for  the  payment  in  cash  at  camps  where  checks  can- 
not be  cashed  locally  at  face  value  and  a  statement 
showing  in  detail  the  earnings  and  deductions  of  each 
employee  are  included.  The  adjustment  of  all  dis- 
putes and  grievances  is  to  be  through  conciliation  and 
arbitration.  The  duties  and  limitations  of  the  "  Pit 
Committee"  are  made  clear.  An  interesting  feature 
is  the  collection  of  union  dues  and  assessments  by  the 
operators  who  turn  them  over  at  stated  periods  to 
the  officials  of  the  union.  Some  employees,  however, 
are  held  to  be  outside  the  jurisdiction  of  the  union. 
A  checkweighman  representing  the  workers  is  pro- 
vided and  is  elected  by  each  local  union.  Penalties 
are  provided  for  the  stoppage  of  work  by  a  local 
union  or  for  absence  from  work  by  an  individual.  In 
a  word,  an  effort  is  made  to  provide  a  working  agree- 
ment covering  all  points  which  may  arise  from  the 
nature  of  the  industry.  Local  conditions  and  the 
inclusion  of  independent  operators  are  provided  for. 
The  strike  of  1919  showed  that  neither  strikes  nor 
injunctions  mine  coal  and  that  a  system  of  agree- 
ments brings  about  industrial  peace. 

3.     Hart  S chaff ner  Sj-  Marx  Agreement 

A  labor  agreement  between  Hart  Schaffner&Marx, 
clothing  manufacturers,  and  the  Amalgamated  Cloth- 


Collective  Bargaining  67 

ing  Workers  of  America  has  existed  for  some  years, 
and  has  been  extended  to  a  large  part  of  the  clothing 
industry.  The  purpose  of  the  agreement  beyond  the 
question  of  wages  and  hours  and  the  adjustment  of 
difficulties  is  to  bring  about  a  high  order  of  discipline 
and  efficiency  based  on  cooperation  and  good-will  be- 
tween employers,  foremen,  union,  and  workers,  so  as 
to  prevent  misunderstanding  and  friction  and  make 
for  good  team-work,  good  business,  mutual  advan- 
tage, and  mutual  respect. 

The  administration  of  the  agreement  is  vested  in  a 
Board  of  Arbitration  and  a  Trade  Board,  together 
with  such  deputies,  officials,  and  representatives  of 
both  employers  and  employees  as  are  chosen. 

The  Board  of  Arbitration  has  full  and  final  juris- 
diction over  all  matters  arising  under  the  agreement, 
and  its  decisions  are  conclusive.  It  consists  of  three 
members,  one  of  whom  is  chosen  by  the  union,  one  by 
the  company,  and  a  third  is  the  mutual  choice  of  both 
parties  and  acts  as  chairman  of  the  board.  Under 
the  agreement  of  1916,  the  former  board  was  con- 
tinued. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  board  to  investigate,  and  to 
mediate  or  adjudicate,  all  matters  that  are  brought 
before  it  and  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  insure  the  suc- 
cessful working  of  the  agreement.  In  reaching  its 
decision  the  board  is  expected  to  have  regard  to  the 
general  principles  of  the  agreement ;  the  spirit  and 
intent,  expressed  or  implied,  of  the  parties  thereto ; 


68  American  Trade  Unionism 

and,  especially,  th»  necessity  of  making  the  instru- 
ment workable,  and  adaptable  to  varying  needs  and 
conditions,  while  conserving  as  fully  as  possible  the 
essential  interests  of  the  parties  involved. 

The  line  of  practice  developed  by  the  board  has 
been  continued.  Questions  of  fact  and  testimony  are 
in  the  main  considered  by  the  Trade  Board,  while  the 
Board  of  Arbitration  concerns  itself  mainly  with 
questions  of  principle  and  the  application  of  the 
agreement  to  new  issues  as  they  arise.  Thi&,  how- 
ever, is  not  to  be  construed  as  limiting  the  power  of 
the  board,  which  is  broad  enough  to  make  it  the  judge 
of  facts  as  well  as  principle  when  necessary,  and  to 
deal  with  any  question  that  may  arise  whose  disposi- 
tion is  essential  to  the  successful  working  of  the 
agreement. 

By  agreement  between  the  chief  deputies,  cases 
may  be  heard  and  decided  by  the  chairman  of  the 
board  alone. 

The  Trade  Board  is  tlie  primary  board  for  adjust- 
ing grievances,  and  has  original  jurisdiction  over  all 
matters  arising  under  the  agreement  and  the  decisions 
relating  thereto,  and  considers  and  disposes  of  all 
such  matters  when  regularly  brought  before  it,  sub- 
ject to  such  rules  of  practice  and  procedure  as  are 
now  or  may  be  hereafter  established. 

The  Trade  Board  consists  of  eleven  members,  all 
of  whom,  excepting  the  chairman,  are  employees  of 
Hart  Schaffner  &  Marx.    Five  members  are  chosen  by 


Collective  Bargaining  69 

the  company  and  five  by  the  union,  and  it  is  under- 
stood that  these  shall  be  selected  in  such  manner  as 
to  be  representative  of  the  various  departments  — 
cutting  and  trimming,  coat,  vest,  and  trousers. 

The  board  is  presided  over  by  a  chairman  who 
represents  the  mutual  interests  of  both  parties,  and 
especially  the  interest  of  the  successful  working  of 
the  agreement.  He  presides  at  the  meetings  of  the 
board,  assists  in  the  investigation  of  complaints,  en- 
deavors to  mediate  conflicting  interests,  and  in  case 
of  disagreement  casts  the  deciding  vote  on  questions 
before  the  board.  He  also  acts  as  umpire  on  the 
cutting-room  commission,  and  performs  such  other 
duties  as  may  be  required  of  him  by  the  agreement 
or  by  the  Board  of  Arbitration. 

The  deputies  are  the  officers  having  direct  charge 
of  the  execution  of  the  provisions  of  the  agreement 
in  the  interest  of  their  respective  principals.  Each  of 
the  parties  to  the  agreement  has  a  sufficient  number 
of  deputies  to  take  proper  care  of  the  work  necessai*y 
to  be  done  to  keep  the  docket  from  being  clogged  with 
complaints  and  to  insure  an  efficient  working  of  the 
agreement.  They  have  power  to  investigate,  mediate, 
and  adjust  complaints,  and  settlements  made  by  the 
deputies  of  the  parties  in  dispute  are  legally  binding 
on  their  principals.  In  case  of  appeal  to  the  Trade 
Board  or  Board  of  Arbitration  the  deputies  may 
represent  their  respective  principals  before  these 
boards,  and  have  power  to  summon  and  examine  wit- 


70  American  Trade  Unionism 

nesses,  to  present  testimony  or  evidence,  and  do  such 
other  things  as  may  be  necessary  to  place  their  case 
properly  before  the  trial  body,  and  that  body  sees  to 
it  that  they  are  given  adequate  opportunity  and 
facility  for  such  presentation,  subject  to  the  usual 
rules  of  procedure. 

One  of  the  deputies  on  each  side  is  known  as  the 
chief  deputy,  and  the  statement  of  the  chief  deputy 
is  regarded  as  an  authoritative  presentation  of  the 
position  of  his  principal  in  any  matter  in  controversy. 
Unless  reversed  or  modified  by  either  of  the  trial 
boards,  the  agreement  of  the  chief  deputies  in  all  mat- 
ters over  which  they  or  their  principals  have  author- 
ity is  observed  by  all  parties. 

Each  deputy,  in  order  to  qualify  for  duty,  must 
have  a  commission  signed  by  the  proper  official  repre- 
senting the  union  or  the  company,  and  this  commis- 
sion must  be  countersigned  by  the  chairman  of  the 
Trade  Board.  Deputies  must  be  either  employees  of 
Hart  Schaffner  &  Marx  or  persons  who  are  connected 
with  the  Joint  Board  of  Hart  Schaffner  &  Marx. 

The  union  has  in  each  shop  a  duly  accredited 
representative  authorized  by  the  Joint  Board  who  is 
recognized  as  the  officer  of  the  union  having  charge 
of  complaints  and  organization  matters  within  the 
shop.  He  is  empowered  to  receive  complaints  and 
must  be  given  sufficient  opportunity  and  range  of 
action  to  enable  him  to  make  proper  inquiry  concern- 
ing them.     When  it  is  necessary  for  the  shop  repre- 


Collective  Bargaining  "71 

sentative  to  leave  his  place  in  order  to  investigate 
complaints,  the  foreman  may,  if  he  thinks  it  neces- 
sary, ask  to  be  informed  of  the  purpose  of  his  move- 
ments, and  the  representative  must  comply  with  his 
request. 

The  shop  representative  is  entitled  to  collect  dues 
and  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  imposed 
upon  him  by  the  union,  provided  they  are  performed 
in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  interfere  with  shop  dis- 
cipline and  efficiency.  He  is  expected  to  represent 
the  cooperative  spirit  of  the  agreement  in  the  shop 
and  be  the  leader  in  promoting  that  amity  and 
spirit  of  good-will  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  the 
agreement  to  establish.  This  same  cooperative  spirit 
is  expected  in  equal  degree  from  the  shop  superin- 
tendent, who  is  expected  to  contribute  his  best  efforts 
to  promote  harmony  and  good-will  in  the  shops. 

Two  sections  of  the  agreement  are  concerned  with 
procedure  and  rates  and  hours.  Methods  of  settling 
all  disputes  are  provided  and  a  scale  of  rates  for  day 
work,  hour  work,  and  piece  work  is  furnished. 

The  preferential  shop  is  thus  defined : 

Preference  shall  be  applied  in  hiring  and  discharge. 
Whenever  the  employer  needs  additional  workers,  he 
shall  first  make  application  to  the  union,  specifying  the 
number  and  kind  of  workers  needed.  The  union  shall 
be  given  a  reasonable  time  to  supply  the  specified  help, 
and  if  it  is  unable  or  for  any  reason  fails  to  furnish  the 
required  people,  the  employer  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
secure  them  in  the  open  market  as  best  he  can. 


72  American  Trade  Unionism 

In  like  manner,  the  principle  of  preference  shall 
be  applied  in  case  of  discharge.  Should  it  at  any 
time  become  necessary  to  reduce  the  force  in  con- 
formity with  the  provisions  of  this  agreement,  the 
first  ones  to  be  dismissed  shall  be  those  who  are  not 
recognized  members  of  the  union  in  good  and  regular 
standing. 

The  Trade  Board  and  Board  of  Arbitration  are 
authorized  to  hear  complaints  from  the  union  con- 
cerning the  discipline  of  its  members  and  to  take  any 
action  necessary  to  conserve  the  interests  of  the 
agreement.  The  union  members  referred  to  are  those 
who  have  joined,  or  may  hereafter  join,  the  Amalga- 
mated Clothing  Workers  of  America. 

The  important  part  under  working  conditions  is 
the  following: 

The  full  power  of  discharge  and  discipline  remains 
with  the  company  and  its  agents ;  but  it  is  understood 
that  this  power  should  be  exercised  with  justice  and 
with  due  regard  for  the  reasonable  rights  of  the  em- 
ployee, and  if  an  employee  feels  that  he  has  been  un- 
justly discharged,  he  may  have  appeal  to  the  Trade 
Board,  which  has  the  power  to  review  the  case. 

Every  person  suspended  receives  a  written  notice 
directing  him  to  appear  at  the  office  of  the  company 
for  a  decision.  Every  suspension  notice  properly 
presented  to  the  discipline  officer  must  be  disposed  of 
within  six  working  hours  of  its  presentation,  and  a 
definite  decision  announced  to  the  suspended  person. 


Collective  Bargaining  V3 

Loyalty  to  the  agreement  is  thus  stressed  by  the 
following  five  rules: 

Experience  suggests  that  there  are  certain  points  of 
strain  which  it  would  be  wise  to  recognize  in  advance 
and  to  safeguard  as  far  as  possible.  Among  the  points 
to  be  safeguarded  are  the  following: 

1.  When  dissatisfaction  arises  over  change  of  price 
or  working  conditions,  it  is  believed  that  the  agreement 
provides  a  remedy  for  every  such  grievance  that  can 
arise,  and  all  complainants  are  urged  and  expected  to 
present  their  cases  to  the  proper  officials  and  await  an 
adjustment. 

2.  Strain  may  arise  because  of  unsatisfactory  per- 
sonal relations  between  workers  and  officials.  The  com- 
pany's officials  are  subject  to  the  law  as  are  the  workers, 
and  equally  responsible  for  loyalty  in  word  and  deed, 
and  are  subject  to  discipline  if  found  guilty  of  violation. 

3.  Officials  of  the  union  are  equally  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  agreement  when  in  exercise  of  their  duties 
as  are  the  officials  of  the  company,  and  any  words  or 
acts  tending  to  discredit  them  or  the  union  which  they 
represent,  or  wliich  are  calculated  to  injure  the  influ- 
ence or  standing  of  the  union  or  its  representatives,  shall 
be  considered  as  disloyalty  to  the  agreement,  and  the 
offender  shall  be  subject  to  discipline  by  the  Trade 
Board,  provided,  however,  that  no  reasonable  criticism 
or  expression  of  disagreement  expressed  in  proper  lan- 
guage shall  be  deemed  a  violation  within  the  meaning 
of  this  section. 

4.  If  any  worker  shall  willfully  violate  the  spirit  of 
the  agreement  by  intentional  opposition  to  its  funda- 
mental purposes,  and  especially  if  he  carry  such  willful 
violation  into  action  by  striking  and  inciting  others  to 
strike  or  stop  work  during  working  hours,  he  shall,  if 


74  American  Trade  Unionism 

the  charge  is  proven,  be  subj  ect  to  suspension,  discharge, 
or  fine. 

5.  If  an}'^  foreman,  superintendent,  or  agent  of  the 
company  shall  willfully  violate  the  spirit  of  this  agree- 
ment, and  especially  if  he  fails  to  observe  and  carry  out 
any  decision  of  the  Trade  Board  or  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion, he  shall,  if  the  charge  is  proven,  be  subject  to  a 
fine  of  not  less  than  $10  or  more  than  $100  for  each 
offense,  at  the  discretion  of  the  chairman  of  the  Trade 
Board. 

Other  sections  are  technical  and  need  not  detain 
us.  In  conclusion,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  agree- 
ment grew  out  of  a  strike  in  1910  which  ran  for  six- 
teen weeks  and  was  settled  by  a  temporary  agree- 
ment. Then  it  was  seen  that  more  elaborate  ma- 
chinery was  needed  for  settling  complaints,  so  a 
process  of  development  has  gone  on.  The  workers 
are  mainly  Russian  Jews,  Lithuanians,  and  Rouman- 
ians, The  personal  element  has  been  an  influential 
factor  in  the  successful  working  and  renewal  of  the 
agreement.  The  members  of  the  firm  of  Hart  SchafF- 
ner  &  Marx  are  exceptionally  broad  in  vision  and  ex- 
perienced business  men.  Mr.  J.  E.  Williams  served 
as  chaimian  of  the  Board  of  Arbitration  from  its 
inception  until  his  deatli  and  has  been  succeeded  by 
Professor  J.  H.  Tufts  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Mr.  James  Mullenbach  is  a  sagacious  and  experienced 
adjuster.  The  most  remarkable  personality  is,  per- 
haps, Mr.  Sidney  Hillman,  the  president  of  the  Amal- 
gamated,  whose   leadership   has   built    up    a   strong 


Collective  Bargaining  75 

union  and  who,  it  is  said,  has  been  offered  business 
positions  at  large  salaries.  Professor  Earl  Dean 
Howard  of  the  Labor  Department  is  a  trained  econ- 
omist. The  agreement  has  been  a  success  because, 
aside  from  the  intelligence  and  machinery  provided, 
there  has  been  a  spirit  of  give  and  take  on  both  sides. 
The  balance  of  power  has  been  kept  6n  an  even  keel. 
One  illuminating  incident  is  that  a  certain  demand 
although  obtainable  because  the  union  had  the  power 
was  withdrawn  on  the  advice  of  a  union  official  who 
thought  it  neither  just  nor  expedient. 

Concerning  their  experience  with  collective  bar- 
gaining Hart  Schaffner  &  Marx  say: 

Favorable  results  did  not  appear  at  once,  but  were 
the  natural  and  legitimate  effects  of  various  devices  in- 
troduced to  meet  difficult  situations  as  they  arose,  and 
of  certain  principles  of  fair  dealing,  into  harmony  with 
which  we  have  attempted  to  bring  our  business  policies. 

In  addition,  the  company  created  a  Labor  Depart- 
ment. A  university  professor,  trained  in  economics,  was 
engaged  to  study  the  situation  and  draft  a  plan  for  pro- 
moting better  relations  with  our  employees.  At  the 
beginning  the  task  appeared  stupendous,  as  grievances 
were  highly  magnified  and  exaggerated  by  frequent 
reiteration  of  the  more  radical  leaders  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  the  war  spirit  at  a  high  temperature. 

This  new  department,  headed  by  Professor  Earl  Dean 
Howard  of  Northwestern  University,  gradually  assumed 
certain  functions  in  which  the  workers  had  a  direct  in- 
terest and  administered  them  with  the  main  purpose  in 
view.     The  chief  duties  of  the  labor  department  now 


76  American  Trade  Unionism 

are:  the  maintenance  of  a  system  for  the  prompt  dis- 
covery and  investigation  of  any  abuses  or  complaints 
existing  anywhere  among  the  employees ;  the  recom- 
mendation of  measures  designed  to  eliminate  the  source 
of  the  complaint;  protecting  the  company's  interests  in 
the  Board  of  Arbitration  and  the  Trade  Board;  nego- 
tiating with  the  business  agents  of  the  union  and  satis- 
fying their  demands  as  far  as  possible;  administering 
all  discipline  for  all  the  factories  (all  executives  have 
been  relieved  of  this  function)  ;  and  general  oversight 
of  all  hiring. 

Industrial  peace  will  never  come  so  long  as  either 
employer  or  employee  believes  that  he  is  deprived  of 
rights  honestly  belonging  to  him.  Our  experience  has 
taught  that  the  business  man  in  authority  is  a  trustee 
of  various  interests,  including  his  own,  and  if  he  admin- 
isters his  business  so  as  to  conserve  and  harmonize  these 
interests  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  he  is  most  likely 
building  an  enduring  success. 

Jf..     The  New  York  Lockout 

In  the  fall  of  1920  an  apparently  concerted 
movement  to  break  up  the  Amalgamated  Clothing 
Workers  of  America  was  begun  in  New  York  City. 
The  Clothing  Manufacturers'  Association  refused  to 
continue  relations  with  the  union.  A  suit  was 
brought  by  Friedman  &  Company  against  Sidney 
Hillman  and  other  members  of  the  union  for  illegal 
picketing  and  $500,000  was  asked  for  damages.  The 
allegation  was  also  made  that  the  union  was  a  revolu- 
tionary organization.  The  suit,  however,  was  dis- 
missed on  the  ground  that  the  facts  did  not  bear  out 


Collective  Bargaining  77 

the  contentions  raised.  The  Amalgamated  Associa- 
tion raised  some  $930,000  to  protect  its  members  in 
what  became  both  a  lockout  and  a  strike.  Work  con- 
tinued in  Rochester,  Cleveland,  Chicago,  and  other 
clothing  centers  where  new  agreements  were  made  and 
wage  reductions  accepted  after  direct  negotiations. 
The  result  was  that  the  New  York  manufacturers 
lost  the  spring  trade.  Injunctions  don't  make  pants. 
Finally  in  May,  1921,  came  a  break  in  the  ranks  of 
the  Clothing  Manufacturers'  Association  marked  by 
the  resignation  of  its  president  and  the  withdrawal 
of  the  member  firms  unalterably  opposed  to  the 
Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  America  and  de- 
termined to  continue  in  refusing  to  deal  with  the 
union.  The  indications  point  to  a  resumption  of 
relations  between  the  union  and  the  larger  group  of 
firms  remaining  in  the  association,  with  a  joint  con- 
ference board  under  an  impartial  chairman.  The 
prospect  is  that  the  New  York  clothing  industry  will 
be  reestablished  upon  a  firm  basis,  with  a  S3'^stem  of 
self-government  providing  for  the  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  disputes  as  they  arise. 

5.     Conclusions 

Collective  bargaining  takes  many  forms  and  may 
be  embodied  in  local  agreements.  In  some  unions  the 
local  agreement  must  be  authorized  by  the  national 
union.  Agreements  may  be  either  written  or  verbal, 
but  must  be  based  on  direct  negotiation. 


78  Ameiican  Trade  Unionism 

The  arguments  for  collective  bargaining  may  no^r 
be  summarized.  Collective  bargaining  is  possible 
only  when  the  workers  are  organized  and  trade- 
unions  seem  to  be  necessary  because  efforts  at  collec- 
tive bargaining  through  other  agencies  have  failed. 
The  basic  principle,  then,  is  the  recognition  of  the 
union.  Employers  are  associated  together  and  so 
the  workmen  must  organize.  This  is  now  admitted 
by  most  people  in  the  abstract  at  least.  The  funda- 
mental principle  of  trade-unionists  is  a  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  under  modern  industrial  conditions 
the  individual,  unorganized  workman  cannot  bargain 
advantageously  with  the  employer  for  the  sale  of  his 
labor. 

The  policy  of  collective  bargaining  through  trade- 
unions  has  justified  itself  in  the  benefits  conferred 
upon  employees  and  employers.  Collective  bargain- 
ing has  brought  about  higher  wages,  shorter  hours, 
and  better  working  conditions  for  the  worker;  the 
employer  has  been  provided  with  more  efficient  work- 
men and  with  industrial  stability.  Industrial  peace 
and  not  industrial  war  is  the  outcome  of  collective 
bargaining.  Through  a  general  agreement  all  em- 
ployers in  an  industry  are  placed  on  the  same  basis 
as  to  labor  costs  and  then  through  competition,  the 
inefficient  employer  is  eliminated  from  the  business 
world.  Trade-unions  and  their  policies  put  a  pre- 
mium on  the  efficient  business  organization.  Collec- 
tive bargaining  is  justified  by  its  results. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CONTROL   OF   STRIKES 

MANY  people  think  that  the  main  business  of  a 
trade-union  is  to  carry  on  strikes.  This, 
however,  is  a  mistaken  notion.  The  importance  of 
moderation  is  insisted  upon  by  most  labor  leaders. 
Collective  bargaining  is  the  ultimate  goal  of  nearly 
all  trade-unions,  and  to  reach  it  not  only  organiza- 
tion but  discipline  is  needed.  Strikes  are  dangerous 
to  the  organization  and  costly.  Hard  experience  has 
taught  trade-union  officials  that  something  more  than 
enthusiasm  is  necessary  to  win  a  strike;  and,  while  it 
may  be  occasionally  true  that  a  union  thrives  on 
opposition,  a  strike  is  not  to  be  considered  an  end  in 
itself.  If  the  strike  is  lost,  the  better  wages  and  con- 
ditions obtained  by  previous  effort  may  be  lost  also. 
Experienced  union  officials,  therefore,  count  the  cost 
before  entering  on  a  struggle  with  the  employer. 
The  "  get-rich-quick  strike  method,"  as  it  is  called, 
is  termed  a  failure.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem, 
3^oung  and  inexperienced  unions  often  disintegrate 
after  a  strike  is  won,  because  it  is  easier  to  rely  on 
promises  than  to  continue  the  union  and  pay  dues. 
But  the  retention  of  higher  wages  and  better  working 
conditions  is  usually  contingent  on  the  continuance 
of   the   union.      The    trade-union    leader   must   not 

79 


80  American  Trade  Unionism 

merely  estimate  the  chances  of  success,  but  must  also 
consider  whether  tlie  ground  won  can  be  held.  The 
law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  has,  therefore, 
brought  about  a  more  or  less  complete  national  con- 
trol as  opposed  to  local  control  of  strikes  in  many 
unions,  while  in  all  there  is  a  unanimity  of  opinion 
concerning  the  value  and  need  of  organization  and 
discipline.  The  domination  of  the  national  union 
over  the  local  union  usually  means  a  conservative 
policy  in  the  matter  of  strikes,  as  is  brought  out  more 
fully  b}'^  the  writer  elsewhere.^ 

1.     Strike  Procedure 

Quite  early  in  the  development  of  American  trade- 
unionism  it  was  realized  by  bitter  experience  that 
numerous  strikes  were  disastrous,  and  so  rules  were 
gradually  adopted,  aiming  at  restriction  of  strikes 
to  those  disputes  in  which  efforts  at  conciliation  or 
offers  of  arbitration  had  failed  to  bring  about  an  ad- 
justment. This  development  is  especially  marked  in 
those  unions  where  the  national  union  is  dominant. 
The  usual  order  of  procedure  in  such  unions  in  bring- 
ing about  a  strike  is  as  follows  :  ( 1 )  the  local  union 
must  exhaust  all  means  of  bringing  about  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  difficulty;  (2)  the  local  union  may  then 
pass  a  strike  vote  which  to  be  binding  must  be  by 
secret  ballot  by  a  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  vote 

1  Janes,   George    M.,    The    Control   of   Strikes    in   American 
Trade  Unions. 


Control  of  Strikes  81 

of  all  members  present  who  have  a  standing  of  two  or 
three  months  or  more;  (3)  the  local  union  after  this 
has  been  done  must  secure  the  approval  of  the  na- 
tional union,  which  generally  means  the  National 
Executive  Board,  for  the  action  taken;  and  (4) 
finally,  only  after  exhaustive  efforts  on  the  part  of 
the  national  officers  or  their  deputies  to  bring  about 
a  settlement,  can  a  strike  be  declared.  In  a  number 
of  unions,  especially  the  railroad  brotherhoods,  a 
general  vote  of  the  entire  membership,  or  that  of  the 
district  effected,  is  taken  before  acting.  Even  those 
unions  in  which  local  autonomy  is  the  rule,  provide 
in  some  instances  for  arbitration  by  a  provision  in 
their  constitutions  that  efforts  for  arbitration  of 
disputes  should  be  made  before  striking.  The  point 
of  the  procedure  thus  worked  out  is  that  time  is 
allowed  for  a  reasoned  consideration  of  the  dispute 
and  for  conciliation  or  arbitration  with  the  employer 
instead  of  hasty,  emotional,  and  ill-considered  action 
at  once.  The  trend  in  this  direction  seems  to  be  quite 
general. 

2.     The  National  Deputy 

The  sending  of  a  national  official  to  the  scene  of 
any  trouble,  or  the  "  deputy  system  "  as  it  is  called, 
is  a  marked  development  of  the  principle  of  control. 
The  function  of  the  deputy  is  to  go  to  the  locality, 
investigate  "  the  alleged  matter  of  complaint,"  make 
an  effort  to  adjust  the  matter,  if  possible,  and  report 


American  Trade  Unionism 


to  the  president  and  the  Executive  Board  of  the  na- 
tional union  his  conclusions  and  recommendations  as 
to  what  course  should  be  pursued.  The  agent  or 
deputy  is  a  representative  of  the  national  union,  and 
his  duties  can  be  laid  down  only  in  a  general  way.  As 
one  trade-union  official  has  said : 

The  man  on  the  ground  representing  the  international 
union  should  use  his  best  judgment;  it  does  not  matter 
whether  he  agrees  with  the  local  committee  or  not.  If 
capable  and  experienced,  he  is  supposed  to  lead  and  not 
to  follow.  It  is  his  duty  to  stand  by  the  international 
union  regardless  of  consequences,  to  protect  the  funds 
against  waste  and  extravagance,  and  to  maintain  its 
reputation  for  a  "  square  deal "  with  union  manufac- 
turers. 

The  deputy  must  be  received  by  the  local  union, 
for  if  he  is  not  permitted  to  perfonn  his  duties,  strike 
benefits  may  be  withheld  by  the  national  union  and  no 
further  assistance  granted.  A  strike  entered  into  by 
a  local  union  after  refusing  the  offices  of  a  national 
deputy  would  be  illegal  and  would  subject  the  local 
union  to  discipline,  such  as  a  fine  or  loss  of  charter 
and  strike  benefits. 

In  all  the  unions  that  have  adopted  the  "  deputy 
S3'stem  "  it  is  regarded  as  important  that  the  deputy 
should  be  on  the  ground  before  a  strike  is  begun.  It 
is  required,  therefore,  that  the  members  involved  con- 
tinue at  work  pending  investigation  and  until  a  final 
decision  has  been  reached.    The  rule  has  worked  well ; 


Control  of  Strikes  83 

for  any  dispute  can  be  more  easily  adjusted  before  an 
actual  breach  has  occurred.  President  Martin  Fox 
of  the  Iron  Holders  has  observed  that  this  rule  "  has 
strengthened  the  position  of  the  union  and  proven 
beneficial  in  all  cases."  President  Menger  of  the 
Operative  Potters  in  an  interview  with  the  writer 
said: 

If  an  international  officer  can  get  on  the  ground  before 
a  grievance  has  assumed  large  proportions  and  before 
either  side  has  committed  itselt,,  a  settlement  can  be 
more  readily  brought  about  than  if  the  aft'air  is  allowed 
to  go  on. 

A  representative  coming  in  from  the  outside  is  fre- 
quently able  to  adjust  differences  which  the  parties 
themselves  cannot  settle.  Those  who  are  involved  in 
a  quarrel  are  not  the  best  qualified  to  appraise  its 
merits.  Investigation  by  a  party  not  previously  in- 
volved is  always  helpful.  The  deputy  acts  as  a 
mediator  between  the  local  union  and  the  employer, 
and  is  often  able  to  eliminate  the  local  prejudice  or 
personal  feeling  between  the  two  parties.  It  is  true 
that  the  deputy  comes  as  a  friend  of  the  union ;  but 
he  takes  into  account  other  considerations  than  the 
success  of  the  local  union.  As  a  representative  of  the 
national  union,  he  must  consider  whether  the  local 
union  is  justified  in  its  demands,  and  whether  the 
demands  have  been  made  in  the  proper  spirit.  All  of 
these  considerations  make  him  a  mediating  element 
more  or  less  independent  of  the  local  union.     The 


84*  American  Trade  Unionism 

Cigar  Makers  report  that  one  of  their  deputies  met 
the  employer  seventeen  times  before  a  settlement  was 
finally  effected.    An  editorial,  comment  says  : 

The  union  will  grow  more  rapidly  in  the  future  than 
it  has  in  the  past  as  soon  as  it  is  made  clear  that  we  as 
an  organization  have  no  desire  to  take  an  employer  by 
the  throat  and  make  him  do  things  regardless  of  whether 
competition,  location,  and  his  business  will  permit. 

The  deputy  usually  remains  on  the  ground  in  case 
of  a  strike  and  continues  his  efforts  for  an  adjust- 
ment of  the  dispute,  or  he  may  be  sent  directly  to 
take  charge  of  a  strike.  A  good  deal  of  authority 
is  given  to  the  deputy  in  strike  matters.  His  deci- 
sions are  binding  in  some  unions  and  subject  to  ap- 
proval by  the  Executive  Board  or  by  general  vote  in 
others.  If  he  is  able  to  reach  an  agreement  with  the 
employer  he  can  terminate  a  strike  in  some  instances 
even  if  the  local  union  objects.  The  "deputy  sys- 
tem," or  some  form  of  it,  is  now  found  in  a  large 
number  of  national  unions.  The  tendency  of  the  local 
unions  is  to  turn  more  and  more  to  the  national 
officers  in  case  of  grievance,  lockout,  or  strike ;  the 
work  of  the  deputy  has  thus  increased  in  quite  a  large 
measure  and  has  resulted  in  the  peaceful  settlement 
of  many  disputes. 

A  word  of  caution  is  in  order  here :  national  unions 
vary  in  organization,  discipline,  and  financial  re- 
sources, and  no  general  statement  holds  true  of  all  of 
them.    Some  national  unions,  for  instance,  do  not  pay 


Control  of  Strikes  85 

strike  benefits  and  their  local  unions  have  complete 
autonomy  in  the  matter  of  strikes.  Even  in  these 
unions  the  adAace  of  the  national  officers  is  often 
sought  if  not  always  followed.  An  indication  of  the 
trend  of  development  is  seen  in  the  Hod  Carriers'  and 
Building  Laborers'  Union,  which  pays  no  strike 
benefits,  but  which  sends  its  president  or  a  special 
organizer  to  direct  strikes.  Other  national  unions 
give  their  local  unions  the  right  to  strike  on  their  own 
initiative  when  only  a  small  number  of  men  is  in- 
volved, or  when,  as  in  some  unions  in  the  building 
trades,  the  strike  concerns  a  particular  building  or 
job,  or  when  no  financial  assistance  is  expected.  But 
even  in  these  cases  just. cited,  a  national  deputy  is 
often  sent  by  a  number  of  national  unions  if  a  general 
strike  is  threatened.  Another  group  of  national 
unions  includes  the  older  and  more  highly  organized 
unions  which  pay  strike  benefits  and  emphasize  the 
necessity  of  discipline.  In  this  group  the  deputy 
system  has  already  brought  about  good  results  and 
it  bids  fair  to  be  more  effective  in  other  national 
unions  as  time  goes  on. 

3.     Strike  Benefits 

The  real  source  of  control  of  strikes  by  national 
unions  is  the  power  of  the  purse ;  for,  in  industrial 
disputes,  the  worker  must  live  while  the  strike  is 
going  on.  Nearly  all  of  the  older  and  stronger 
national  unions  have  provided  "  the  sinews  of  war  " 


86  American  Trade  Unionism 

in  the  shape  of  strike  benefits.  The  collection  and 
payment  of  these  benefits  have  gradually  been  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  national  officers.  The  payment 
of  benefits  is  conditioned  on  compliance  with  certain 
rules  or  regulations  concerning  strike  procedure  out- 
lined in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter.  The  national 
deputy,  as  has  been  shown,  reports  on  conditions  and 
if  the  strike  is  authorized  by  the  national  union, 
strike  benefits  are  paid.  The  amount  varies  from  five 
to  seven  dollars  a  week  in  the  average  union.  The 
money  is  provided  by  assessments  or  by  a  strike  fund 
previously  accumulated.  In  some  cases,  contribu- 
tions from  all  local  unions  are  solicited.  A  refusal 
of  strike  benefits  means  that  the  local  union  is  thrown 
on  its  own  resources.  Some  national  unions  allow 
their  local  unions  to  strike  providing  they  pay  their 
own  expenses.  The  tendency,  however,  is  to  prohibit 
all  strikes  not  authorized  and  financed  by  the  national 
union. 

The  control  of  strikes  through  the  national 
"  deputy  system  "  and  the  payment  of  strike  benefits 
is  real,  and  while  it  is  true  that  a  refractory  local 
union  occasionally  defies  national  authority,  such 
action  is  coming  to  be  an  exception  to  the  usual 
rule.  "  One  *  get-away '  with  holding  up  the  parent 
body,"  to  quote  the  expressive  words  of  one  union 
official,  "  does  not  mean  that  it  can  be  done  whenever 
the  whim  seizes  a  union  or  a  number  of  unions."  A 
radical  membership,  likewise,  adds  to  the  difficulties 


Control  of  Strikes  87 

of  control.  The  secretary  of  the  Ladies  Garment 
Workers'  Union,  for  instance,  reports  that  in  addi- 
tion to  ordinary  difficulties 

.  our  immigrant  members  have  their  heads  full 
of  revolutionary  stuff,  which  they  read  in  the  Jewish 
radical  press,  written  by  men  who  have  little  sympathy 
with  our  movement,  understand  it  less,  and  to  whom 
unions  and  strikes  are  only  useful  as  a  means  of  carry- 
ing on  the  "class  war."  To  these  the  idea  of  adjusting 
labor  disputes  without  constantly  resorting  to  strikes  is 
gall  and  wormwood. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CONCILIATION   AND   ARBITRATION 

THE  control  of  strikes  as  outlined  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter  is  further  supplemented  by  the 
increasing  use  of  trade  agreements  in  which  provision 
is  made  for  conciliation  and  arbitration  in  the  settle- 
ment of  all  disputes.  By  conciliation,  or  mediation 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  meant  the  bringing  to- 
gether of  employers  and  employees  for  a  peaceful 
settlement  of  any  difference  by  discussion  and  nego- 
tiation. A  mediator  brings  the  parties  together  or  he 
may  act  as  an  intermediary.  The  aim  of  the  con- 
ciliation is  to  get  both  parties  together  and  let  them 
settle  the  difference  between  themselves.  Arbitration 
on  the  other  hand,  means  the  bringing  in  of  a  third 
party  whose  decision  is  to  be  accepted  by  both  sides. 
The  interesting  point  in  this  development  is  that 
there  is  no  strike  or  stoppage  of  work  pending  in- 
vestigation of  any  dispute. 

These  agreements  fall  into  three  classes :  The  first 
embraces  the  railroads  and  involves  legislation  as  to 
public  regulation  of  wages ;  the  second  is  where  the 
agreement  is  directly  between  an  employers'  associa- 
tion, or  large  corporation,  and  a  national  union ;  and 
the  third  where  it  is  between  a  local  union  and  a  local 
employer. 

88 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  89 

1.     Railway  Agreements 

The  various  railway  brotherhoods,  such  as  the 
Locomotive  Engineers,  the  Locomotive  Firemen  and 
Enginemen,  the  Railway  Conductors,  the  Railroad 
Trainmen,  the  Switchmen,  and  the  Railroad  Teleg- 
raphers, beginning  with  the  Locomotive  Engineers 
in  1874,  have  made  agreements  with  the  railroads 
governing  wages  and  working  conditions  and  also,  in 
case  their  local  and  general  committees  and  national 
representatives  fail  to  bring  about  an  adjustment  of 
difficulties,  provision  has  been  made  for  conciliation 
and  arbitration.  The  development  of  public  regula- 
tions of  the  railroads  led  to  legislation  in  regard  to 
the  settlement  of  labor  disputes.  The  Erdman  Act 
passed  in  1898  provided  that  in  case  of  a  dispute,  the 
chairman  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
and  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  must  on  application 
of  either  party,  endeavor  by  mediation  to  adjust  the 
difference.  Mediation  was  conditioned  on  request  by 
one  party,  and  on  acceptance  of  the  mediator's  offer 
by  the  other  party.  If  mediation  proved  unsuccess- 
ful, the  mediators  were  to  urge  arbitration  and  if  the 
parties  agreed,  a  board  of  arbitration  was  formed, 
one  member  being  named  by  each  party,  and  a  third 
by  these  two.  In  1913  the  Newlands  Act  was  passed 
providing  for  a  permanent  Board  of  Mediation  and 
Conciliation.  Likewise  a  Department  of  Labor  was 
created  and  the  Secretary  of  Labor  was  given  power 


90  American  Trade  Unionism 

to  act  as  mediator  and  to  appoint  commissioners  of 
conciliation  in  labor  disputes,  whenever  in  his  judg- 
ment the  interests  of  industrial  peace  may  require  it 
to  be  done.  For  the  four  years  ending  June  30, 
1917,  the  Federal  Board  of  Mediation  dealt  with 
seventy-two  controversies,  fourteen  of  which  were 
settled  partly  or  wholly  by  arbitration,  and  fifty-two 
by  mediation. 

The  feeling,  however,  had  grown  among  the  rail- 
road brotherhoods  that  the  various  settlements  had 
not  gone  to  the  root  of  the  matter,  that  arbitration 
was  merely  a  palliative  because  based  on  compromise, 
and  that  no  group  of  outsiders  could  understand  the 
matter  at  issue.  During  the  summer  of  1916  these 
feelings  came  to  a  head,  especially  on  the  question  of 
the  eight-hour  day.  A  deadlock  ensued.  Then,  by  a 
large  vote,  September  2,  1916,  was  set  for  the  stop- 
page of  work.  Finally,  after  the  failure  of  all  com- 
promise, Congress  passed  the  Adamson  Act  which 
provided  for  the  eight-hour  day  demanded  and  a 
postponement  of  the  other  demands  until  a  commis- 
sion appointed  to  investigate  the  effect  of  the  eight- 
hour  day  reported.  Nothing  was  done  in  the  matter 
and  so  because  of  this  fact  and  the  delay  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  reporting  on  the  constitutionality 
of  the  Act,  the  brotherhoods  in  the  spring  of  1917 
threatened  again  to  strike.  President  Wilson  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  the  Council  of  National  De- 
fense to  act  and  an  agreement  was  made  settling  the 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  91 

dispute.  Following  the  taking  over  of  the  railroads 
by  the  government,  a  Railway  Wage  Board  was 
created  in  January,  1918,  and  under  its  direction 
various  boards  of  adjustment  were  established. 
Then,  as  the  result  of  a  presidential  proclamation 
the  National  War  Labor  Board  was  established  in 
April,  1918.  The  board  had  no  legal  powers  to  en- 
force awards  and  so  appeal  to  patriotic  motives  was 
made.  Only  in  three  cases  were  its  awards  refused ; 
in  two  of  these  cases,  the  government  took  control  of 
the  industries,  while  in  the  third  case  a  threat  of 
unemployment  led  the  men  to  return  to  work. 

The  return  of  the  railroads  to  private  owner- 
ship was  marked  by  the  Transportation  Act  of  1920 
which  provides  for  special  boards  for  settling  rail- 
road labor  controversies.     The  Act  declares 

that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  both  carriers  and  em.ployees 
to  exert  every  reasonable  eiFort  and  adopt  every  avail- 
able means  to  avoid  any  interruption  to  the  operation 
of  any  carrier  growing  out  of  any  dispute. 

Railroad  boards  of  labor  adjustment  may  be 
created  by  mutual  agreement  to  consider  any  dis- 
pute. The  idea  is  that  mutual  conferences  should  be 
held  first  and  all  means  used  to  settle  the  differences 
between  themselves.  A  permanent  Railroad  Labor 
Board  of  nine  members  was  established  and  this 
board  is  the  final  tribunal  for  the  settlement  of  rail- 
road labor  disputes.     Differences  may  be  referred  to 


92  American  Trade  Unionism 

it  directly  or  on  failure  of  an  adjustment  board  to 
reach  a  settlement.  The  board  in  determining  the 
justness  and  reasonableness  of  wages  is  to  consider 
among  other  relevant  circumstances  the  scale  of 
wages  paid  for  similar  kinds  of  work  in  other  indus- 
tries ;  the  relation  between  wages  and  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing ;  the  hazards  of  the  employment ;  the  training  and 
skill  required ;  the  degree  of  responsibility ;  the  char- 
acter and  regularity  of  the  employment ;  and  inequal- 
ities of  increases  in  wages  or  of  treatment,  the  result 
of  previous  wage  orders  or  adjustments.^ 

The  Board  of  Mediation  and  Conciliation  created 
in  1913  continues  to  serve  in  settling  various  dis- 
putes. Its  powers,  however,  do  not  extend  to  any 
dispute  which  may  be  received  for  hearing  and  de- 
cision by  any  Adjustment  Board  or  by  the  Railroad 
Labor  Board  in  the  manner  just  described. 

2.     General  Agreements 

The  agreement  between  a  large  corporation  or  an 
employers'  association  and  a  national  union  has  had 
an  interesting  development.  The  Iron  Holders,  for 
instance,  have  had  agreements  with  the  Stove  Found- 
ers' National  Defense  Association  since  1891. 
Annual  conferences  with  the  manufacturers  were  be- 
gun by  the  Flint  Glass  Workers  as  the  outcome  of  a 
strike  settlement  in  1888,  but  the  method  was  not 
made  a  constitutional  rule  until  1891.     The  method 


1  Transportation  Act,  1920,  Title  ni. 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  93 

of  agreement  of  this  last  union  was  followed  later  by 
the  Amalgamated  Glass  Workers,  The  Glass  Bottle 
Blowers,  and  the  Window  Glass  Cutters  and  Flat- 
teners.  The  Operative  Potters,  after  a  disastrous 
strike  in  1894,  at  their  convention  of  the  same  year, 
first  discussed  the  making  of  an  agreement  with  the 
manufacturers,  and  after  several  years  of  discussion, 
an  agreement  was  entered  into,  to  go  into  effect  in 
1900.  This  agreement  has  been  renewed  annually 
since  then  and  no  general  strike  has  ensued.  Since 
1900  the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  Union  has  entered 
into  agreements  with  contractors  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  providing  that  all  differences  that  may 
arise  be  sent  to  headquarters  for  adjustment.  Pend- 
ing same,  no  strike  can  be  entered  upon  by  the  mem- 
bers. Since  1901  there  have  been  agreements  between 
the  American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Association  and 
the  International  Typographical  Union,  and  later 
the  Stereotypers',  the  Printing  Pressmen,  and  the 
Photo  Engravers'  unions  were  included.  The  Coop- 
ers' International  Union,  in  1905,  the  Granite  Cut- 
ters' Union  in  1907,  and  the  National  Association  of 
Machine  Printers  and  Color  Mixers  in  1909  entered 
into  agreements  with  national  employers'  associations, 
A  larger  part  of  the  membership  of  the  United  Mine 
Workers  is  now  working  under  district  agreements. 
The  International  Longshoremen's  Association  has 
also  since  1900  entered  into  various  agreements. 
The   interesting   part    of   these    agreements    is    the 


94  American  Trade  Unionism 

method  provided  for  the  settlement  of  disputes.  The 
agreement  between  the  Dredge  Owners'  Protective 
Association  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  International 
Brotherhood  of  Steam  Shovel  and  Dredgemen  pro- 
vides for  the  settlement  of  disputes  in  the  following 
way: 

In  the  event  of  a  controversy  arising  between  the 
parties  hereto^  or  in  the  event  of  the  men  having  a  griev- 
ance, they  shall  continue  to  work  and  all  such  contro- 
versies and  grievances  will  be  settled,  if  possible,  by 
the  representative  of  the  employer  and  the  representa- 
tive of  the  men.  If  such  controversy  or  grievance  can- 
not be  settled  by  them,  then  it  shall  be  arbitrated  by 
choosing  a  third  disinterested  man  upon  whom  the  repre- 
senJtative  of  the  men  and  the  representative  of  the 
employer  may  agree;  if  the  representative  of  the  men 
and  the  representative  of  the  employer  cannot  agree, 
then  the  matter  shall  be  submitted  to  the  representative 
of  the  general  organization  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
and  the  general  manager,  or  his  representative  of  the 
Dredge  Owners'  Protective  Association  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  and  if  they  cannot  agree,  then  they  shall  choose 
a  third  disinterested  party,  and  the  said  three  shall  con- 
stitute a  Board  of  Arbitration  and  the  decision  of  the 
majority  thereof  shall  be  final  and  binding,  and  all  par- 
ties hereto  shall  abide  thereby.  It  is  expressly  under- 
stood and  agreed  that  said  Arbitration  Board  shall  meet 
within  ten  (10)  days  after  the  occurrence  of  the  dif- 
ference requiring  arbitration  has  been  submitted  to  them. 

The  arbitration  agreement  between  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association  and  the  Inter- 
national  Typographical   Union    provides   much    the 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  95 

same  method  as  the  above.  Local  conciliation  and 
arbitration  are  provided  for,  and  in  case  the  local  at- 
tempt fails  or  is  not  satisfactory,  an  appeal  may  be 
made  to  the  National  Board  of  Arbitration  which 
consists  of  the  three  members  of  the  Executive  Coun- 
cil of  the  International  Typographical  Union  and  the 
three  members  of  the  Special  Standing  Committee  of 
the  American  Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  or 
their  proxies.  The  finding  of  the  majority  of  the 
National  Board  is  final  and  must  be  accepted  as  such 
by  the  parties  in  the  dispute  under  consideration. 
No  aid  or  support  is  given  to  the  firm,  employer,  or 
local  union  refusing  to  abide  by  the  decision. 

3.     Local  Agreements 

Local  agreements,  or  collective  bargaining,  with- 
out an  arbitration  clause  are,  and  have  been,  numer- 
ous. The  interesting  development  is  the  increasing 
insistence  that  all  local  agreements  shall  contain  pro- 
visions for  arbitration.  The  Bricklayers  have  been 
foremost  in  this  policy.  The  New  York  agreement 
with  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  came  into  exist- 
ence in  1885  and  contains  a  provision  for  arbitration. 
The  same  policy  is  found  in  the  numerous  local  agree- 
ments entered  into  by  the  various  unions  connected 
with  the  building  trades  with  builders'  associations 
in  leading  cities.  The  Bakery  and  Confectioner}' 
Workers,  the  Barbers,  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers, 
the  Brewery  Workers,  the  Glove  Workers,  the  Gran- 


96  American  Trade  Unionism 

ite  Cutters,  the  Horseshoers,  the  Machinists,  the 
Pavers,  the  Steam  Engineers,  the  Steam  Fitters,  the 
Tile  Layers,  and  the  Tobacco  Workers,  are  some  of 
the  national  unions  which  require  their  local  unions, 
to  have  an  arbitration  clause  in  their  agreements.  A 
typical  arbitration  clause  of  a  local  union  of  the 
Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  is  as  follows : 

All  differences  between  Union  No.  118  and  the  Wash- 
ington Merchant  Bakers'  Association  (or  individual  firm 
involved)  that  cannot  be  settled  through  the  Business 
Agent  of  Union  No.  118  shall  be  referred,  first  to  three 
committees,  one  each  from  Union  No.  118,  the  Griev- 
ance Committee  from  the  Central  Labor  Union  and  one 
from  the  Washington  Merchant  Bakers'  Association  (or 
the  firm  involved).  If  these  three  committees  cannot 
adjust  the  difficulty  then  arbitration  shall  be  accepted  as 
follows :  Two  disinterested  parties  are  to  be  selected 
by  the  Washington  Merchant  Bakers'  Association  (or 
the  firm  involved),  one  member  of  the  Grievance  Com- 
mittee of  the  Central  Labor  Union,  and  one  disinterested 
person  to  be  selected  by  Bakers'  Union  No.  118,  these 
four  selected  to  endeavor  to  adjust  the  matter  in  dis- 
pute, but  in  the  event  of  failure  to  agree  the  four  to 
select  a  fifth  member  of  the  committee  on  arbitration, 
and  the  decision  of  this  committee  to  be  final  and  to  be 
accepted  by  all  parties  involved  in  the  question. 

These  local  agreements  must  usually  be  endorsed 
by  the  national  union  in  order  that  as  uniform  a 
policy  as  possible  be  carried  out.  There  seems  to  be 
a  growing  tendency  according  to  statistics  compiled 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  97 

by  the  New  York  State  Department   of  Labor  to 
insert  arbitration  clauses  in  local  agreements. 

4.     Arbitration 

Compulsory  arbitration  and  even  voluntary  arbi- 
tration when  it  involves  the  calling  in  of  only  an  out- 
side party  to  adjust  a  difficulty  is  bitterly  opposed 
by  some  trade-union  officials.  It  is  regarded  as  a 
broken  reed  to  lean  upon  because  the  causes  of  strikes 
are  according  to  these  officials  new  desires  and  new 
demands  which  the  rules  of  the  past  cannot  satisfy. 
The  question  of  wages  and  fewer  hours  is  based  on 
the  problem  whether  or  no  the  condition  of  the  given 
business  will  justify  the  paying  of  higher  wages  or  a 
reduction  in  the  number  of  hours  of  work,  and  an  out- 
sider in  the  nature  of  things  is  said  to  know  notJiing 
about  the  relative  merits  of  the  case.  Arbitration 
according  to  this  view  is  regarded  as  the  strongest 
weapon  of  the  employer  and  the  reason  given  in  sup- 
port of  this  theory  is  that  such  an  arbitrator  would 
be  guided  solely  by  the  arguments  of  the  employer 
concerning  his  ability  to  grant  the  demands.  Labor 
organizations  are  advised  to  make  sure  that  their 
demands  are  just  and  then  to  fight  until  they  win 
them.  Some  unions  rule  out  of  the  realm  of  arbitra- 
tion any  proposition  to  lengthen  the  hours  of  labor, 
and  of  course  all  stand  firmly  for  the  right  to  organ- 
ize. The  eight-hour  day  in  the  crafts  where  it  exists 
was  brought  about  by  strikes,  say  trade-unionists, 


98  American  Trade  Unionism 

with  the  further  statement  that  it  could  not  have  been 
obtained  by  arbitration.  Another  objection  is  that 
arbitration  leads  only  to  compromise  and  thus  at 
times  to  no  definite  conclusions ;  but  the  answer  to 
this  is  that  all  political  and  social  progress  of  a  per- 
manent kind  is  based  on  compromise ;  a  step  at  a  time. 

The  complaint  has  been  made  that  in  recent  years 
the  strike  has  been  commercialized  and  is  now  based 
more  on  the  principle  of  expediency  than  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  justice.  The  complaint  contains  some  ele- 
ment of  truth,  but  it  is  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that 
the  strike  by  means  of  trade-union  organization  and 
experience  has  been  transferred  from  the  realm  of 
emotion  to  the  realm  of  reason.  Organization  gener- 
ally means  fewer  and  not  more  strikes,  conciliation 
and  arbitration  being  used  in  the  settlement  of  many 
disputes. 

Strike  statistics  for  the  United  States  are  avail- 
able only  until  1905.  They  show  that  there  has  been 
an  increase  since  1881  in  the  absolute  number  of 
strikes,  but  a  slower  increase,  or  even  a  decrease,  in 
their  number  relatively  to  the  growth  of  industry. 
The  development  seems  to  be  in  the  direction  of  an 
occasional  large  strike  as  over  against  many  small 
ones.  A  number  of  national  officials  say  that  so  far 
as  their  organizations  are  concerned  the  adoption  of 
a  policy  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  has  reduced 
the  number  of  strikes.  A  report  of  the  growth  of  the 
Boot  and  Shoe  Workers'  Union  says  th^t  the  adop- 


Conciliation  and  Arbitration  99 

tion  of  arbitration  "  marked  the  passing  of  the 
strike "  in  that  organization.  The  Amalgamated 
Association  of  Street  and  Electric  Employees,  which 
has  for  its  motto,  "  We  are  always  ready  to  arbitrate 
our  disputes,"  also  reports  a  diminishing  number  of 
strikes  on  account  of  the  adoption  of  arbitration. 
Too  much  cannot  be  made  of  a  few  cases,  but  there 
seems  to  be  a  consensus  of  opinion  among  both  trade- 
unionists  and  employers  that  the  reasonable  method 
of  conciliation  and  arbitration  has  been  very  effective 
in  settling  disputes  and  in  reducing  the  number  of 
strikes. 

Many  of  the  sensible,  intelligent,  and  fair  dealing 
trade-unions  are  adopting  the  principle  of  concilia- 
tion and  arbitration.  Strikes  it  is  realized  mean  in- 
dustrial war,  and,  as  in  all  wars,  the  strongest  side 
and  not  necessarily  the  right  side  wins.  The  right  to 
strike  is  held  to  quite  tenaciously  but  the  tendency 
seems  to  be  to  substitute  reason  for  force.  But  as 
it  takes  two  to  make  a  quarrel  so  it  takes  two  to  make 
an  agreement.  Between  the  arrogant,  stubborn 
employer  on  the  one  hand  and  the  unreasonable,  tur- 
bulent labor  leader  on  the  other  there  is  little  to 
choose.  "  Nothing  to  arbitrate  "  means  that  there  is 
no  necessity  for  arbitration,  and  is  based  on  the  old 
principle  that  they  should  take  who  have  the  power, 
and  they  should  keep  who  can.  As  a  sagacious  labor 
leader  observed  to  the  writer,  "  nothing  to  arbitrate 
means  drunk  with  power." 


100  American  Trade  Unionism 

Voluntary  conciliation  and  arbitration  is  not  a 
panacea  —  the  human  equation  is  still  there  —  but  it 
furnishes  a  means  for  bringing  the  employer  and  em- 
ployees together  and  also  a  method  for  settling  dis- 
putes. Mr.  H.  N.  Kellogg,  of  the  American  News- 
paper Publishers'  Association,  after  reviewing  the 
history  of  the  agreements  with  the  unions  of  the 
printing  trades,  declares  that  "  arbitration  is  the 
most  sensible  and  the  best  method  for  settling  labor 
disputes  that  has  been  developed  up  to  this  time." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE   TEEND   OF   DEVELOPMENT 

* '  A  TRADE-UNION,"  according  to  one  author- 
JTjL  ^ty*  "  ^^  ^  continuous  association  of  wage- 
earners  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  or  improving 
the  conditions  of  their  employment."  ^  A  trade-union 
although  usuallj^  including  benevolent  and  fraternal 
features  is  something  more  than  a  mere  fraternal 
order  which  might  easily  be  a  continuous  association 
of  wage-earners.  The  purpose  of  maintaining  or 
improving  conditions  of  employment  involves  means 
and  ends  and  a  more  or  less  fixed  policy  which  makes 
an  organization  a  trade-union.  Trade-unionism  in- 
volves collective  bargaining  as  over  against  ijidividual 
bargaining  for  wages  and  conditions  of  employment 
and  the  use  of  the  strike  as  a  weapon  of  last  resort  in 
enforcing  demands.  A  number  of  American  trade- 
unions  began  as  mutual  benevolent  and  fraternal  so- 
cieties and  have  become  under  economic  pressure 
regular  labor  organizations.  A  similar  development 
is  now  going  on  in  a  number  of  organizations  re- 
sembling in  some  respects  trade-unions,  and  it  is  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  to  show  by  the  study  of  con- 
crete instances  the  trend  of  this  development. 

1  Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice,  History  of  Trade   Unionism, 
1902,  p.  1. 

101 


102  American  Trade  Unionism 

The  dividing  line  between  fraternal  or  beneficiary 
organizations  and  trade-unions  seems  to  lie  in  the 
matter  of  collective  bargaining  and  in  the  attitude 
towards  strikes.  The  National  Association  of  Sta- 
tionary Engineers,  for  example,  which  was  organized 
in  1882,  lays  stress  upon  educational  and  beneficiary 
features  and  declares  that  "  this  association  shall  at 
no  time  be  used  for  the  furtherance  of  strikes,  or  for 
the  purpose  of  interfering  in  any  way  between  its 
members  and  their  employers  as  to  wages."  ^  Strikes, 
moreover,  it  is  urged,  are  unnecessary  because  of  the 
identity  of  interest  between  employer  and  employee. 
To  this  the  trade-unionist  would  say  that  educational 
and  beneficiary  features  are  useful,  and  that  there  is 
an  identity  of  interest  up  to  a  certain  point,  but  that 
without  collective  bargaining  it  is  impossible  to  utilize 
the  legitimate  powder  of  combination  that  comes  with 
trade-union  organization.  Moreover,  collective  bar- 
gaining would  be  the  rule,  and  strikes  would  be 
abolished  as  soon  as  an  industry  should  become  com- 
pletely unionized. 

The  trend  of  present-day  development  may  be 
readily  seen  b^'^  an  examination  of  the  policies  of 
various  organizations  which,  on  account  of  more  or 
less  similarity,  may  be  divided  into  the  following  four 
groups:  (1)  Organizations  whose  members  are  em- 
ployed   directly    by    the    federal    government;    (2) 

1  The  National  Engineer,  February,  1904,  p.  34;  Preamble, 
Constitution,  1914,  p.  3. 


The  Trend  of  Development  103 

unions  formed  of  men  holding  federal  licenses ;  (3) 
train-service  organizations  whose  members  are  em- 
ployed on  the  railroads,  and  (4),  a  miscellaneous 
group  at  various  stages  of  development. 

1.     Federal  Government  Employees 

In  this  group  are  found  such  organizations  as  the 
National  Federation  of  Post  Office  Clerks ;  the 
Brotherhood  of  Railway  Postal  Clerks ;  the  National 
Federation  of  Postal  Employees ;  the  Railway  Mail 
Association ;  the  National  Association  of  Letter  Car- 
riers, and  the  United  National  Association  of  Post 
Office  Clerks.  These  are  all  fraternal  and  beneficiary 
associations  whose  aim  is  to  cooperate  with  the  postal 
department  as  to  classification,  wages,  hours  of  labor, 
and  the  upholding  at  all  times  of  civil-service  rules. ^ 
Most  of  these  organizations  have  developed  into 
regular  trade-unions  and  have  affiliated  with  organ- 
ized labor  "  despite  Postmaster-General  Burleson's 
known  opposition  and  declaration  concerning  the 
menace  in  postal  unions." 

The  National  Federation  of  Post  Office  Clerks  is  a 
typical  illustration  of  the  development  of  postal 
unionism.  Beginning  as  merely  a  fraternal  and  bene- 
ficiary organization,  it  became  a  regular  trade-union 
primarily  through  need  of  affiliation  with  organized 
labor  to  secure  through  combined  effort  better  work- 

1  Constitution,  Letter  Carriers,  1911,  art.  n,  sec.  1. 


104  American  Trade  Unionism 

ing  conditions  and  higher  pay.  The  present  status 
of  the  federation  is  shown  by  its  being  affiliated  with 
The  American  Federation  of  Labor,  by  the  fact  that 
its  objects  are  the  social  and  economic  advancement 
in  every  lawful  way  of  its  members,  and  by  its  sym- 
pathy with  the  trade-union  movement.^  However,  at 
its  national  convention  in  1911  a  resolution  was 
adopted  putting  it  "  on  record  as  most  emphatically 
opposed  to  strikes  in  the  postal  service  as  a  means  to 
bring  about  the  improvement  of  working  conditions 
in  the  service."  ^  A  "  Post  Office  Appropriation 
Bill,"  passed  in  August,  1912,  provides  that  member- 
ship in  associations  like  the  foregoing  "  shall  not 
constitute  or  be  cause  for  reduction  in  rank  or  com- 
pensation or  removal  of  such  person  or  groups  of 
persons  from  said  service,"  provided  they  are  "  not 
affiliated  with  any  outside  organization  imposing  an 
obligation  or  duty  upon  them  to  engage  in  any  strike, 
or  proposing  to  assist  them  in  any  strike,  against  the 
United  States."  This,  according  to  President  Nel- 
son, of  the  National  Federation,  legalizes  the  right  to 
affiliate  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  be- 
cause that  body  does  not  require  any  affiliated  body 
to  strike,  nor  does  it  propose  to  help  anybody  in  a 
strike  against  the  United  States.  Legislation  and 
not  strikes  is  held  to  be  the  last  recourse  of  public 

1  Constitution,   1910,   art.   n. 

2  Proceedings,  1911,  p.  87,  The  Union  Postal  Clerk,  January, 
1912,  p.  14. 


The  Trend  of  Development         105 

employees  in  settlement  of  grievances.^  This  right 
of  organization  carries  with  it  the  further  right  to 
petition  and  agitate  for  remedial  legislation  which 
had  been  denied  to  some  extent  b}^  the  federal  officials. 
The  contention  of  the  union  officials  is  that  bad  con- 
ditions brought  about  the  organization  of  the  union 
and  that  their  aim  was  amelioration  by  peaceful 
methods  and  so  they  are  opposed  to  strikes.  Presi- 
dent Nelson  said  to  a  congressional  committee : 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  Chicago  post  office  before 
our  union  came  into  existence,  we  practically  bad  strikes. 
The  men  after  working  fourteen  hours  on  a  stretch 
refused  to  work  any  more;  they  walked  out  and  deliber- 
ately rang  the  Bundy  clock  and  went  home  —  seventy- 
five  of  them  —  and  they  could  not  get  men  to  take  their 
places.  2 

In  reality,  these  organizations  whether  affiliated  or 
not  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  are  in 
many  respects  trade-unions  and  are  recapitulating  — 
the  earlier  stages  at  least  —  the  development  of  many 
regular  trade-unions.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
also,  that  the  government  postal  employees  in  France 
went  out  on  strike  in  1909,  and  the  railroad  em- 
ployees, composed  partly  of  government,  partly  of 
private  lines,  in  1910,  and  that  this  latter  strike  was 
broken  only  by  calling  the  men  to  the  colors. 

1  The  Union  Postal  Clerk,  August,  1912,  p.  1. 

2  Ibid.,  December,  1911,  p.  8. 


106  American  Trade  Unionism 

2.     Men  Holding  Federal  Licenses 

Here  are  found  such  organizations  as  the  Na- 
tional Marine  Engineers'  Beneficial  Association  and 
the  American  Association  of  Masters,  Mates,  and 
Pilots.  Their  members  are  required  to  have  a  federal 
license  to  engage  in  their  calling  and  are  subject  to 
government  inspection.  The  conduct  of  all  such 
licensed  officers  is  subject  to  investigation  by  the 
Local  Board  of  Inspectors  which  has  power  to 
suspend  or  revoke  licenses.  Section  4449  of  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States  reads : 

If  any  licensed  officer  shall,  to  the  hindrance  of  com- 
merce, wrongfully  or  unreasonably  refuse  to  serve  in 
his  official  capacity  on  any  steamer  as  authorized  by  the 
terms  of  his  certificate  of  license,  or  shall  fail  to  deliver 
to  the  applicant  for  such  service  at  the  time  of  such 
refusal,  if  the  same  shall  be  demanded,  a  statement  in 
writing,  assigning  good  and  sufficient  reasons  therefor, 
or  if  any  pilot  or  engineer  shall  refuse  to  admit  into  the 
pilot-house  or  engine-room  any  person  whom  the  master 
or  owner  of  the  vessel  may  desire  to  place  there  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  profession,  his  license  shall  be 
revoked  upon  the  same  proceedings  as  are  provided  in 
other  cases  of  revocation  of  such  licenses. 

This  law  is  said  by  some  to  deny  the  right  of  strik- 
ing and  to  put  these  organizations  into  the  list  of 
nonstriking  ones.  President  William  F.  Yates,  of  the 
National  Marine  Engineers'  Beneficial  Association, 
however,  speaking  concerning  the  right  of  federal 
control,  says  in  an  official  letter  that 


The  Treiid  of  Development  107 

No  officer  of  the  inspection  service  has  any  right  to 
inquire  as  to  why  a  man  refuses  to  accept  employment 
and  if  he  (officer)  asks  such  questions  he  should  be  told 
emphaticalh^  that  it  is  none  of  his  business.^ 

Then  he  goes  on  to  say  that  the  language  of  the 
section  just  quoted 

has  been  taken  by  some  members  of  the 
inspection  service,  owners,  attorneys,  and  others,  to  mean 
that  a  licensed  officer  may  be  compelled  to  enter  the  em- 
ployment of  anyone  who  needs  his  services,  and  this 
meaning  or  interpretation  is  absurd  in  the  opinion  of 
good  lawyers,  and  I'd  like  to  see  the  man  who  could 
press  me  in  his  service  against  my  inclination  in  the 
matter. 

The  contention  is  that  a  marine  engineer  or  other 
licensed  officer  has  no  "  official  capacity "  on  any 
vessel  except  he  be  in  the  employ  of  the  owners  or 
agents,  and  the  plain  intent  of  the  law  is  to  prevent 
a  licensed  officer  who  is  regularly  employed  on  a 
vessel  from  wrongfully  or  willfully  refusing  to  do  his 
duty  by  either  refusing  to  remain  on  a  vessel  when 
required  or  by  quitting  on  eve  of  departure.  "Any 
other  construction  attempted,"  says  President  Yates, 
"  should  be  fought  to  the  bitter  end." 

This  association  was  in  fact,  if  not  in  name,  a 
trade-union  because  its  rules  provided  that  no  sub- 
ordinate association  could  either  go  on  strike  or 
change  its  scale  of  wages  without  the  knowledge  and 
consent    of  the    national    president    and    Advisory 

1  Proceedings,  1910,  p.  297. 


108  American  Trade  Unionism 

Board.  ^  Likewise  most  of  the  troubles  or  strikes  of 
this  organization  have  been  in  connection  with  the 
making  of  a  scale  of  wages. ^  Although  emphasizing 
collective  bargaining,  the  Marine  Engineers  asserted 
in  1910  that  they  did  not  affiliate  with  other  labor 
organizations  because  "  if  engineers  live  up  to  the 
part  of  licensed  officers  they  need  no  such  alliance 
and  that  such  would  be  harmful  to  both."  ^  There 
were,  therefore,  no  sympathetic  strikes  in  their  or- 
ganization. Even  as  to  strikes,  the  rule  had  been 
enacted  that  the  word  "  strike  "  must  be  eliminated 
from  the  records  of  each  subordinate  association.'* 
The  feeling,  however,  continued  to  grow  that  the 
interests  of  the  association  and  its  members  were  be- 
ing discriminated  against  on  account  of  their  isolated 
labor  position  and  that  they  were  failing  to  gain  the 
benefits  and  rights  accruing  to  other  organizations 
through  combined  effort,  and  so  the  matter  of  affili- 
ating with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  be- 
came urgent.^  At  the  convention  of  1916,  after 
considerable  discussion  and  questioning  a  representa- 
tive of  the  Federation  as  to  obligations  involved,  it 
was  voted  to  take  a  referendum  vote  of  the  entire 
membership  on  the  matter  of  affiliation.^     The  result 


1  Constitution,  1907,  p.  27. 
"i  Proceedings,  1911,  p.  485. 
3  Ibid.,  1910,  p.  143. 
i  Constitution,  1907,  p.  27. 
^Proceedings,  1916,  p.  22. 
0  Ibid.,  pp.  44,  67. 


The  Trend  of  Development         109 

was  2,933  for  and  1,236  against  affiliation.  On  ac- 
count, however,  of  jurisdictional  differences  with  the 
Steam  Engineers,  the  Machinists,  and  other  unions 
as  to  who  should  do  certain  work  or  make  repairs,  the 
acceptance  of  the  charter  was  held  in  abeyance  until 
the  convention  of  the  association  in  1917.^  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  a  resolution  for  the  creation 
of  a  defense  fund  was  rejected  because  of  "the  opin- 
ion that  the  fact  that  a  defense  fund  was  in  existence 
would  cause  our  members  to  become  careless  and 
aggressive."  ^  Opposition  to  the  Marine  Engineers 
coming  into  the  Federation  continued  and  at  the  con- 
vention of  1917  the  National  Executive  Committee 
was  authorized  to  continue  negotiations  with  the  view 
of  securing  an  acceptable  charter.  During  1917 
negotiations  continued  and  finally  a  conference  with 
the  protesting  international  unions  was  arranged  to 
be  held  during  the  Buffalo  convention  of  the  Amer- 
ican Federation  of  Labor.  The  conference  was  held 
Monday  evening,  November  19,  1917,  between 
representatives  of  the  Marine  Engineers  and  of  the 
protesting  organizations  involved,  namely  the  Inter- 
national Association  of  Machinists,  Brotherhood  of 
Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Ship  Builders,  United  Asso- 
ciation of  Plumbers  and  Steamfitters,  and  Inter- 
national Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers.  After 
considerable  discussion,  an  amicable  adjustment  con- 

1  Minutes  of  the  Executive  Committee,  July,  1916,  p.  26. 

2  Proceedings,  1916,  p.  52. 


110  American  Trade  Unionism 

cerning  the  division  of  work  was  reached  and  the 
protesting  unions  withdrew  their  objections.  The 
charter  was  issued  on  December  14,  1917,  and  so,  as 
a  result  of  a  movement  begun  in  1903,  the  Marine 
Engineers  became  affiliated  with  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor.  ^ 

The  American  Association  of  Masters,  Mates,  and 
Pilots  is  likewise  composed  of  licensed  officers  and  its 
development  may  be  brought  out  briefly-  Although 
for  many  years  a  trade-union  in  everything  but 
name,  it  did  not  become  affiliated  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  until  1916,  and  then  only  after 
much  agitation  and  discussion,  and  the  defeat  of  a 
similar  movement  in  1911.^  The  officials  of  the  asso- 
ciation denied  for  some  ^^ears  that  it  was  a  trade- 
union.  In  spite  of  the  idea  that  a  licensed  officer  was 
in  a  special  class  by  himself,  the  feeling  grew  that 
"  the  best  interests  of  this  association  require  that 
it  be  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
in  order  that  its  object  and  purposes  be  more  fully 
and  completely  attained."  Such  a  resolution  was 
passed  at  the  1916  convention  and  subsequently  sus- 
tained by  a  referendum  vote  of  the  entire  member- 
ship.^ On  account  of  this  action,  a  dual  organization 
embracing   the    higher   officers    in    ship    service    and 


^  Proceedings,    1912,   pp.   225-238;    1917,   pp.   401-406;    1918, 
pp.  308-337. 

■^Master,  Mate,  and  Pilot,  March,  1911,  p.  486. 
3  Proceedings,  1916,  pp.  73-74. 


The  Trend  of  Development         111 

known  as  the  Shipmasters'  Association  has  been 
formed  by  some  seceding  members  —  an  evident  ex- 
ample of  persistent  individualism. 

3.     Railroad  Employees 

This  group  is  made  up  of  the  train-sei"vice  organ- 
izations whose  members  are  employed  on  the  rail- 
roads. These  are  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive 
Engineers,  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen 
and  Enginemen,  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Train- 
men, and  the  Order  of  Railway  Conductors  of  Amer- 
ica. All  have  had  a  common  origin  and  a  similar 
development  as  will  be  brought  out. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  is  the 
oldest  organization  in  this  group.  It  was  organized 
as  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Footboard  in  1863  and  re- 
organized the  next  year  under  the  present  title. 
During  the  first  ten  years  the  brotherhood  developed 
fraternal  and  beneficiary  features,  and  had  a  few 
local  strikes  although  these  were  discouraged  by  the 
officials.  In  1874  the  president  was  deposed  as  being 
too  much  of  a  pacifist  and  was  succeeded  by  P.  M. 
Arthur  who  continued  at  the  head  of  the  organiza- 
tion until  his  death  in  1903.  While  conservative  in 
his  policy  Mr.  Arthur  declared :  "  We  are  opposed 
to  strikes  and  Avill  not  resort  to  them  unless  forced  to 
do  so  by  the  arbitrary  actions  of  our  employers.  It 
is  our  only  hope  when  moral  suasion  fails."  ^     Wage 

1  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  December,  1876. 


112  American  Trade  Unionism 

agreements  and  arbitration  rather  than  strikes  were 
emphasized.  Strikes  were  necessary  at  times  because 
some  railroad  officials  were  imbued  with  the  ideas  of 
absolute  monarchy.  An  engineer,  for  instance,  was 
discharged  and  went  to  the  superintendent  and 
asked :  "  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  what  I 
am  discharged  for.''  "  and  received  the  answer :  "  You 
are  discharged,  are  you.'*  Well,  that  is  conclusive 
evidence  that  the  company  doesn't  want  you."  ^  A 
campaign  of  education  and  the  use  of  the  strike  when 
necessary  brought  about  better  relations.  The  great 
strike  on  the  Burlington  Railroad  in  1888  is  said  to 
have  been  caused  by  "  a  narrow  view  of  master  and 
servant  all  along  the  line.  They  were  the  masters 
and  the  road  was  their  kingdom  to  manage  and  no 
interference  or  arbitration  could  be  allowed."  ^  The 
result  of  this  most  bitter  and  prolonged  strike  in  its 
history  revealed  the  strength  of  the  brotherhood  and 
made  it  easier  to  get  along  with  the  railroad  com- 
panies by  peaceful  means. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen  have  had  much 
the  same  development  as  will  be  indicated  briefly. 
The  Brotherhood  of  liOcomotive  Firemen  was  organ- 
ized in  1873  as  a  mutual  benefit  association  and  did 
not  become  a  distinct  labor  organization  until  1885 
when  a  protective  policy  was  adopted  much  against 

1  Locomotive  Engineers'  Monthly  Journal,  May,  1905,  p.  393. 

2  Ibid.,  October,  1896,  p.  880. 


The  Trend  of  Development         113 

the  wishes  of  its  officers.^  Likewise,  the  Brotherhood 
of  Railroad  Trainmen,  organized  at  Oneonta,  New 
York,  in  1883,  as  the  Brotherhood  of  Railroad 
Brakemen  and  changing  its  name  in  1889,  has  had 
much  the  same  development  as  the  other  brother- 
hoods.^ 

The  most  pronounced  and  dramatic  development  in 
this  group  is  that  of  the  Order  of  Railway  Con- 
ductors of  America,  organized  in  1868  and  continu- 
ing as  a  purely  fraternal  organization  until  1891. 
The  Conductors  stood  on  the  policy  adopted  at  the 
convention  at  Elmira,  in  1877:  "Temperance  and 
total  opposition  to  unlawful  and  violent  uprisings  of 
employees,  termed  strikes."  At  the  same  time  a 
resolution  was  passed  unanimously  that  any  brother 
engaging  in  a  strike  should  be  expelled  and  that  a 
notice  of  the  same  with  the  cause  therefor  should  be 
sent  to  all  railroad  superintendents  within  reach  of 
the  division  secretary.  Another  resolution  at  the 
same  convention  provided  that  "  the  names  of  all 
members  expelled  for  drunkenness  or  engaging  in  a 
strike  shall  be  published  in  the  magazine."  ^ 

The  year  1877  was  marked  by  violent  railroad 
strikes  and  the  resolutions  quoted  probably  were 
caused  by  a  reaction  from  the  same.  Still,  in  1882, 
Grand   Chief  Conductor,   G.    S.   Wheaton,   declared 


1  Locomotive  Firemen's  Magazine,  June,  1910,  p.  843. 

2  History,  by  D.  L.  Cease,  p.  6. 

3  Proceedings,  1885,  p.  789. 


114  American  Trade  Unionism 

that  the  weaker  party  succumbs  in  every  strike  and 
that  there  are  no  gains  through  strikes  and  coercion, 
and  in  the  convention  of  the  same  year  the  platform 
adopted  ran :  "  Reserving  the  right  to  prosecute  our 
own  business  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own 
conscience,  and  within  the  law,  according  to  every 
other  man  the  same  right."  ^  The  next  year,  1883,  a 
circular  was  issued  stating  that  the  order  was  uncom- 
promisingly opposed  to  strikes  or  coercive  measures.^ 
At  the  Louisville,  Kentucky,  convention  in  1885,  a 
resolution  was  passed  and  embodied  in  the  constitu- 
tion providing  that  in  order  to  obtain  recognition  in 
the  matter  of  obtaining  favors  and  adjusting  griev- 
ances the  division  or  divisions  interested  should  select 
a  member  or  members  as  a  committee  to  wait  upon 
the  general  officers  of  the  railroad  company,  and,  if 
refused,  to  ask  the  Grand  Chief  Conductor  of  the 
order  to  call  on  the  officers  and  endeavor  to  effect  a 
settlement.  It  was  made  obligatory  on  the  Grand 
Chief  Conductor  to  comply  with  such  a  request  in 
every  case,  and  the  expenses  attending  same  were  to 
be  borae  either  by  the  division  or  the  individual  mak- 
ing the  request.^  This  marked  a  change  of  the  order 
from  a  mutual  fraternal  society  to  a  labor  organiza- 
tion and  it  was  so  designated  by  Grand  Chief  Con- 
ductor Wheaton  at  the  New  Orleans  convention  in 


1  Proceedings,  1882,  p.  507. 
-■  Ibid.,  1888,  p.  595. 
.'  Ibid.,  1885,  p.  787. 


The  Trend  of  Development         lis 

1887.  The  movement  for  making  the  order  a  factor 
in  the  adjustment  of  grievances  marked  by  this  open- 
ing wedge  continued  and  the  culmination  came  in  the 
removal  of  the  law  against  strikes  and  the  election  of 
E.  E.  Clark,  who  represented  the  progressive  element, 
as  Grand  Chief  Conductor,  at  the  convention  at 
Rochester,  New  York,  in  1890.^ 

A  good  deal  of  the  subsequent  growth  of  the  order 
was  due  to  the  wise  and  energetic  policy  of  Mr.  Clark 
who  served  until  1906  when  he  resigned  to  accept  an 
appointment  on  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion.^ Just  before  the  removal  of  the  no-strike  law  a 
demand  for  an  increase  of  wages  on  the  New  Albany 
Railroad  was  met  by  its  superintendent  in  refusing 
with  the  words,  "  You  cannot  strike ; "  but  the  con- 
ductors replied :  "  We  can  quit,"  and  the  result  was 
that  they  received  the  increase  demanded.^  A  strike 
in  1890  and  another  one  in  1891  showed  the  necessity 
of  some  definite  strike  rules  which  later  were  enacted 
at  the  1891  convention,  modeled  to  a  large  extent  on 
those  of  the  Locomotive  Firemen.^  These  rules 
remain  substantially  the  same  to  this  day  and  other 
actions  of  the  convention  placed  the  conductors  on 
the  basis  of  a  labor  organization. 

These  four  train-service  brotherhoods,  beginning 


1  Proceedings,   1890,  pp.  136,  276. 

2  Ibid.,   1907,  p.  46. 
ilbid.,   1890,  p.  110. 

*lbid.,  1891,  pp.  48-49;  341-347. 


116  American  Trade  Unionism 

as  fraternal  and  beneficiary  orders  merely,  have  thus 
become  under  prevailing  industrial  conditions  regu- 
lar trade-unions  —  business  unions  pure  and  simple 
—  which  on  account  of  their  strategic  position  in  the 
railroad  industry  and  consequent  advantage  in  bar- 
gaining power  have  found  it  unnecessary  to  affiliate 
with  other  unions  except  at  times  they  have  taken  in 
the  Order  of  Railroad  Telegraphers  in  a  wage  de- 
mand. On  account  of  their  independent  position, 
they  are  sometimes  called  the  aristocrats  of  the  trade- 
union  world  and  their  strength  may  be  seen  in  the 
passage  of  the  Adamson  Act  in  1916  by  Congress 
granting  the  eight-hour  day  and  extra  pay  for  over- 
time in  order  to  avert  a  concerted  strike  on  their  part 
throughout  the  United  States. 

Ji.     Miscellaneous 

In  this  fourth  group  is  found  a  number  of  organ- 
izations at  various  stages  of  development  recapitu- 
lating the  experiences  of  the  organizations  in  the 
preceding  groups.  In  this  group  tendencies  are  not 
so  clear  and  some  of  the  movements  are  not  fully 
developed  as  yet.  One  type  of  organization  is  that 
made  up  of  state,  county,  and  city  employees  and 
thus  including  to  some  extent  men  of  special  training 
and  education.  These  include  such  unions  as  the 
Bridge  Tenders'  Union,  City  Firemen's  Union,  City 
Highway  Employees,  Health  Officers'  Association, 
Housing  Inspectors,   Municipal  Employees,   School 


The  Trend  of  Development         117 

Custodians  and  Janitors,  Sidewalk  Inspectors'  Asso- 
ciation, State  Hospital  Employees,  and  the  National 
Federation  of  State,  County,  and  City  Employees. 
These  are,  for  the  most  part,  local  unions  affiliated 
directly  and  not  through  an  international  union  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  A  movement  for 
the  unionization  of  policemen  was  px'oposed  in  Bos- 
ton. Police  Commissioner  O'Meara  voiced  his  strong 
opposition  to  the  movement  in  that,  while  a  union  of 
some  public  employees  might  be  a  matter  of  doubtful 
propriety,  one  of  policemen  would  mean  an  abandon- 
ment of  an  impartial  attitude  on  account  of  affilia- 
tion with  an  outside  organization  and  so  not  to  be 
allowed.^  However  that  may  be,  the  recent  strike  of 
the  London  police  is  of  interest.  The  New  Statesman 
of  September  7,  1918,  states  the  issue  clearly  and 
directly  thus : 

We  regret  that  the  police  were  compelled  to  strike, 
but  we  heartily  congratulate  them  upon  their  victory. 
Their  grievances  were  manifold,  and  if,  after  years  of 
"  victimization,"  stern  refusal,  and  procrastination,  they 
decided  that  nothing  but  a  strike  could  bring  the  author- 
ities to  reason,  they  had  plenty  of  grounds  for  their 
belief.  A  very  brief,  and  on  the  whole  very  orderly  and 
good-tempered  demonstration,  was  all  that  was  neces- 
sary. It  was  too  late  to  try  to  hit  at  the  union  once 
more  by  wholesale  dismissals ;  the  public  and  the  news- 
papers (though  shocked)  were  uniformly  sympathetic 
with  the  strikers ;  Mr.  Lloyd  George  was  staggered  to 

^Boston  Evening  Transcript,  June  29,  1918,  p.  2. 


118  American  Trade  Unionism 

find,  quite  suddenly,  that  a  force  he  believed  to  live  in 
paradisal  content  was  thoroughly  discontented;  and  the 
government  made  a  swift  climb-down.  Before  the  strike 
the  minimum  wage  was  30s.,  with  a  war  bonus  of  12s. 
and  a  2s.  6d.  allowance  for  children;  the  total  has  now 
been  increased  by  13s.  There  is  also  to  be  a  noncon- 
tributory  pension  for  widows.  Recognition  has  not  been 
accorded  in  terms,  but  the  Union  Executives  were  met 
by  Mr.  George  as  the  men's  representatives,  and  ex-P.  C. 
Thiel,  provisional  organizer  of  the  union  and  delegate 
to  the  London  Trades  Council,  is  to  be  restored  to  the 
post  from  which  he  had  been  dismissed  for  taking  part 
in  "  an  unauthorized  association."  This  means  that  if 
"recognition  "  has  not  been  given  in  words,  it  has  been 
given  in  all  save  words. 

The  policemen  of  Boston,  however,  organized  a 
union  and  went  out  on  a  strike  in  the  summer  of 
1919.  The  city  was  left  without  protection  and  rob- 
bery and  looting  occurred.  A  volunteer  police  force 
was  organized  and  the  militia  was  called  out.  The 
strike  was  a  failure  and  the  striking  policemen  lost 
their  positions. 

Librarians,  school  teachers,  and  college  professors 
have  generally  regarded  themselves  as  professional 
men  and  women.  The  Library  Employees'  Union 
has,  however,  been  organized  in  New  York  City.  A 
similar  movement  in  Boston  has  been  criticized  on  the 
ground  that 

It  has  from  time  immemorial  been  the  rule  among 
professional   men    and   women   that   an   organization   of 


The  Trend  of  Development         119 

themselves  to  advance  wages  is  unprofessional  and  un- 
dignified.^ 

The  most  advanced  movement  in  this  group  is 
found  in  the  American  Federation  of  Teachers, 
organized  April  15,  1916,  and  affiliated  with  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  which,  on  November 
18,  1918,  included  thirty-three  local  unions  stretch- 
ing from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  with  one  in  the 
Canal  Zone.  A  local  union  of  more  than  three  hun- 
dred women  teachers  was  organized  at  St.  Paul  in 
June,  1918,  during  the  convention  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.  The  organization  has  grown 
and  on  May  1,  1921,  had  a  total  membership  of  eight 
thousand  distributed  among  one  hundred  local 
unions.  The  movement  is  fundamentally  an  organ- 
ization of  classroom  teachers.  There  are,  however,  a 
number  of  local  unions  among  the  various  univer- 
sities and  colleges  of  the  country.  The  reduction 
of  membership  requirement  from  ten  to  three  years 
of  teaching  or  research  by  the  American  Association 
of  University  Professors  is  said  to  be  directly  due  to 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  Federation.  The  ideal  of  the 
movement  is  "  democracy  in  education ;  education  for 
democracy."  Evidently  there  seems  to  be  a  reason 
for  this  movement,  for  as  one  teacher  said  to  the 
writer,  "We  have  tried  literary  clubs,  social  organ- 
izations, and  teachers  associations  and  they  have  not 


Boston  Evening  Transcript,  May  22,  1918. 


120  American  Trade  Unionism 

gotten  us  anywhere  and  now  we  are  going  to  try  a 
trade-union."  An  example  of  results  obtained  is 
shown  in  the  Chicago  school  situation  where  a  school 
board  has  been  legislated  out  of  office  and  a  new  one 
substituted  largely  by  the  help  of  organized  labor 
and  other  liberal  elements.  A  statutory  guarantee  of 
tenure  during  efficienc}'  has  also  been  obtained.  The 
old  board  had  passed  a  rule  forbidding  membership  of 
teachers  in  organizations  affiliated  with  labor,  or  any 
other  organizations  that  might  be  specified  at  any 
time  in  the  future  at  its  caprice.  It  had,  also,  passed 
a  rule  abolishing  tenure  based  on  meritorious  service 
and  had  dropped  sixty-eight  teachers.  In  such  a 
case  as  this,  it  is  necessary  for  teachers  to  combine 
and  affiliate  themselves  with  other  organizations  and 
not  stand  weak  and  alone.  The  discharged  teachers 
who  belonged  to  the  Federation  were  all  reinstated 
and  have  continued  their  local  organization  (Chicago 
Teachers'  Federation)  without  reaffiliation  with  or- 
ganized labor  from  Avhich  they  withdrew  for  the  time 
being  as  a  matter  of  policy.  The  alliance  of  teachers 
with  trade-unionism  is  a  sign  of  present  economic 
conditions  and  should  arouse  considerable  interest. 
The  American  Federation  of  Teachers,  however,  is 
not  a  mere  bread-and-butter  movement  as  is  shown  by 
its  program  of  educational  and  social  reforms.^ 
In   conclusion  it  may  be  said  that   the  economic 

1  American  Teacher,  September,  1918,  pp.  189,  151.     Letter 
of  President  Charles  B.  Stillman. 


The  Trend  of  Development         121 

conditions  of  the  present  day  are  such  that  organ- 
izations beginning  as  fraternal  and  beneficiary  ones, 
become  under  economic  pressure  trade-unions.  The 
younger  organizations  seem  but  to  recapitulate  in 
their  growth  the  development  of  the  older  ones. 
Among  the  larger  organizations  studied,  the  excep- 
tion seems  to  be  the  National  Association  of  Station- 
ary Engineers,  but  even  in  this  organization  there 
has  been  some  agitation  for  trade-union  policy  and 
affiliation. 

The  question  naturally  arises :  What  has  become 
of  the  spirit  of  individualism  which  has  always  been 
such  a  prominent  factor  in  American  life?  A  partial 
answer  is  of  course  that  a  large  number  of  American 
workmen  are  not  connected  with  the  trade-union 
movement  although  that  number  is  becoming  less. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  if  workmen  are  organized 
at  all  the  tendency  is  to  become  identified  with  the 
trade-union  movement.  The  notion  that  because  a 
man  is  a  government  emploj'^ee,  or  a  licensed  officer, 
or  a  more  or  less  skilled  workman,  or  considers  him- 
self a  professional  man,  he  can  stand  alone  under 
present  conditions  of  industrial  and  social  organiza- 
tion, has  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found 
wanting.  The  sentiment,  "  I'm  a  licensed  officer  and 
not  a  trade-unionist,"  may  swell  a  man's  pride,  but 
it  does  not  go  far  in  getting  help  for  the  passage 
through  Congress  of  a  law  to  better  his  working  con- 
ditions.    The  dissenting  votes  in  the  various  organ- 


122  American  Trade  Unionism 

izations  examined  show  that  the  individualistic  feeling 
is  not  dead,  but  the  majority  votes  in  favor  of 
affiliation  with  organized  labor  indicate  a  recognition 
of  facts  and  show  the  trend  of  events. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   UNION  SHOP 

A  FAMILIAR  but  much  criticised  policy  of  many 
trade-unions  is  the  rule  prohibiting  members 
of  the  union  from  working  with  non-union  men.  The 
union  shop,  which  outside  of  union  circles  is  called 
the  closed  shop,  is  a  shop  where  the  owner  has  agreed 
to  employ  only  members  of  a  union.  The  policy 
varies  among  different  unions  and  is  a  very  elastic 
one.  Many  unions,  like  the  Locomotive  Engineers 
and  the  other  railroad  brotherhoods,  do  not  have  a 
union-shop  rule.  Other  unions  will  not  allow  non- 
union men  to  work  along  with  their  members  in  their 
trade  or  craft.  Still  others,  like  the  unions  in  the 
building  trades,  refuse  to  work  for  the  employer  who 
hires  any  non-union  men  at  all,  excepting,  perhaps, 
the  unskilled  and  unorganized  laborers.  Some  na- 
tional unions  make  no  rules  in  regard  to  the  union 
shop  but  leave  the  matter  to  the  local  unions  to  be 
determined  according  to  circumstances.  The  union- 
shop  policy  is  an  attempt  at  control  and  is  coincident 
with  the  earliest  beginnings  of  trade-unionism  in  this 
country. 

1.     Variant  Types 

The  closed  shop,  however,  is  not  confined  to  trade- 
unions,  but  it  may  be  used  by  the  employer  and  then 

128 


124  American  Trade  Unionism 

it  becomes  an  anti-union  shop.  The  employer  under 
such  circumstances  will  not  hire  a  union  man  and  dis- 
charges any  employee  who  joins  a  union.  In  some 
places  where  the  anti-union  or  closed  shop  is  carried 
on  under  the  misleading  name  of  the  open  shop,  all 
employees  are  required  to  sigii  a  statement  that  they 
are  not  members  of  a  labor  union  and  will  not  join 
one  while  in  the  employ  of  the  company. 

The  real  union  shop  exists  under  two  forms:  (a) 
The  closed  shop  with  the  open  union.  Under  this 
form  the  employer  can  hire  anyone,  but  the  new  em- 
ployee must  join  the  union  if  he  is  not  already 
affiliated,  (b)  The  closed  shop  with  the  closed  union. 
In  this  case,  an  employer  can  hire  only  union  men 
and  all  non-union  men  are  discharged.  Some  unions 
by  arbitrary  fines  may  eliminate  some  members  and 
also  by  exorbitant  initiation  fees  and  high  dues  limit 
their  membership  to  as  few  as  possible.  The  conclu- 
sion is  that  a  closed  union  is  an  indefensible  mo- 
nopol}';  it  may  even  be  said  that  a  union  shop  with 
a  closed  union  is  an  indefensible  monopoly  which  is 
against  public  policy  and  should  not  be  upheld.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  the  union  admits  all  qualified 
workers  to  membership  under  reasonable  conditions, 
tlie  closed  or  union  shop  cannot  become  the  basis  of 
monopoly.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  unions  spend  a 
good  deal  of  time,  energy,  and  money  in  getting  new 
members  and  in  organizing  new  local  unions.  If  the 
opposite  were  true,  there  would  be  no  rational  ex- 


The  Union  Shop  125 

planation  for  the  large  numerical  growth  of  organ- 
ized labor  during  the  past  decade. 

2.     Arguments  for  the  Union  Shop 

The  union  shop  says  the  unionist  is  necessary  be- 
cause only  by  united  action  can  collective  bargaining 
be  made  effective.  The  non-union  man  does  not  do 
his  part  in  securing  higher  wages,  shorter  hours,  and 
better  working  conditions.  No  man  has  the  right  to 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  the  labor  of  others.  The  union- 
ists feel  toward  the  non-unionists  much  as  did  loyal 
citizens  during  the  World  War  toward  the  slackers. 
As  Professor  Ely  well  says : 

The  non-union  man  frequently  does  a  real  injury  to 
his  fellow-workers  by  accepting  wages  or  other  condi- 
tions of  employment  that  are  inconsistent  with  the 
American  mode  of  living.  The  price-cutter  in  the  labor 
market  is  not  ordinarily  a  social  benefactor.  The  weak- 
est, dullest,  and  least  enterprising  laborer  exerts  an 
influence  upon  the  general  level  of  wages  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  his  importance  or  deserts.  If  this  be  true, 
the  man  who  cuts  the  standard  rate  of  wages  may  do  a 
grave  social  injury,  and  there  is  justification  for  those 
who  peaceably  combine  to  prevent  him  from  doing  his 
destructive  work.^ 

Other  reasons  given  are  that  without  the  union 
shop  the  employer  would  use  non-union  laborers  to 
destroy  the  unions ;  that  employers  use  cheap  immi- 
grant labor  to  break  down  the  unions,  as  is  seen  in 

1  Ely,  Outlines  of  Economics,  p.  449. 


126  American  Trade  Unionism 

the  steel  industry ;  that  the  union  shop  puts  all  em- 
ployers in  the  same  industry  on  the  same  basis  so  far 
as  labor  cost  of  production  is  concerned ;  and  that 
the  union  wages  and  union  hours  of  the  union  shop 
eliminate  the  inefficient  employees  and  benefit  the 
public. 

3.     Means  of  Enforcement 

The  union-shop  policy  is  enforced  in  either  of  two 
ways — by  the  card  system  or  by  what  is  known  as  the 
check-off  system.  Under  the  card  system  the  worker 
must  carry  a  union  card  which  must  be  shown  to  the 
union  officials  who  inspect  the  shops.  In  some  in- 
stances, especially  in  the  building  trades,  the  worker 
must  wear  a  union  button.  Under  this  system,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  union  officials  must  frequently 
exert  pressure  in  order  to  compel  individual  members 
to  pay  their  union  dues.^ 

Under  the  check-off  system  the  dues  and  fines  levied 
by  the  union  are  collected  by  the  employer  from  the 
wages  of  the  workers  and  turned  over  to  the  treas- 
urer of  the  union.  Under  this  system  no  pressure  at 
all  is  necessary  because  if  the  union  member  works 
at  all  he  remains  in  good  financial  standing  in  his 
union.  The  check-off  system  is  used  only  in  the 
bituminous  coal  mines  and  in  the  window-glass  in- 
dustry. Professor  Stockton  gives  two  reasons  for 
its  restricted  use.     (1)  The  union  desires  to  be  less 

1  Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor,  p.  185. 


The  Union  Shop  127 

dependent  upon  the  employers  of  its  members.  (2) 
Many  employers  are  not  anxious  to  assist  in  union- 
izing their  establishments.^  The  system  has  become 
a  bone  of  contention  in  the  West  Virginia  labor  con- 
troversy through  the  recent  sweeping  injunction  of 
Judge  Anderson  which,  however,  was  reversed  by  a 
higher  court  so  far  as  the  check-off  system  was  con- 
cerned. 

4.     General  Principles 

In  the  controversy  concerning  the  open  shop  in 
which  in  theory  both  union  and  non-union  men  may 
be  employed,  a  great  deal  is  said  about  its  being  based 
on  principle  and  the  sacred  right  of  liberty.  The 
union  shop  is  called  an  un-American  institution. 
Every  man,  it  is  said,  has  the  right  to  sell  his  labor 
as  he  pleases  and  every  employer  has  the  freedom  to 
hire  such  labor.  Liberty  in  the  abstract  is  a  high- 
sounding  word.  Freedom  of  contract  to  work  sixteen 
hours  a  day  in  insanitary  surroundings  because  a 
man  can't  get  another  job  and  has  a  family  depend- 
ing on  him  may  be  liberty  of  contract,  abstract 
liberty,  but  it  is  not  economic  liberty  in  any  sense 
whatever.  The  sweatshop  employer  demands  what 
kind  of  liberty?  President  Eliot's  declaration  that 
the  "  scab  "  is  the  moral  hero  of  the  labor  world  and 
that  membership  in  a  trade-union  is  a  surrender  of 
personal  freedom  is  used  to  glorify  the  open  shop. 

1  Stockton,  Johns  Hopkins  University  Circular,  No.  224. 


128  American  Trade  Unionism 

What  it  all  amounts  to  is  anti-union  pleading,  not 
open-shop  reasoning.  It  is  talking  in  the  abstract 
and  fails  to  state  the  case  as  it  really  is.  Men  like 
President  Eliot  really  believe  in  freedom  but  they 
are  so  unfamiliar  with  the  actual  workings  of  shop 
conditions  and  the  real  attitude  of  many  employers 
toward  unions,  that  their  reasoning  relates  to  condi- 
tions that  do  not  exist.  President  Eliot  is  talking 
of  a  world  in  which  nobody  lives. ^  To  quote  the 
Clothing  Manufacturers'  declaration  that  "  the 
closed  shop  is  an  un-American  institution "  is  like 
quoting  the  late  Tsar  on  political  freedom. 

The  contention  of  the  trade-unionist  is  that  the 
open  shop  really  means  a  non-union  shop.  President 
Furuseth  of  the  International  Seamen's  Union  relates 
the  following  incident:  A  friend  of  his  in  Cleveland 
who  held  a  good  position  on  the  docks  there  was  in- 
formed that  the  Lake  Carriers'  Association  was  to 
run  an  open  shop.  "All  right,"  said  he,  "  that 
doesn't  interfere  with  me."  He  was  a  member  of  the 
union  and  on  the  next  Tuesday  night  went  to  a  meet- 
ing of  the  union.  On  Wednesday  he  was  called  on  the 
carpet.  "  Don't  you  know  that  this  is  an  open 
shop.'"'  "Yes,  I  know."  "Then  don't  make  any 
mistakes."  Next  Tuesday  he  went  again  to  a  meet- 
ing of  the  union  and  the  following  day  he  was  again 
called  on  the  carpet.     "Don't  you  know  that  this  is 

1  "'Principles'  of  the  Open  Shop,"  Ounton's  Magazine,  July, 
1904. 


The  Union  Shop  129 

an  open  shop?  "  "  Yes,  I  do."  "And  still  you  go  to 
the  union  meeting?"  "Yes,  I  do."  "Well,  then, 
this  is  an  open  shop,  don't  you  understand?"  "I 
guess  I  don't.  You  call  it  an  open  shop  ?  "  "  Well, 
yes,  I  call  it  so  in  public."  "  Do  you  mean  to  say 
that  I  can't  work  here  and  remain  a  member  of  a 
union?"  "That's  exactly  what  I  mean  to  say." 
"  Well,  then,  give  me  my  money  and  let  me  pass 
away."  ^ 

A  more  extreme  example  of  the  same  thing  is  seen 
in  the  refusal  to  deal  with  union  shops  by  those 
running  so-called  open  shops.  President  Grace  of 
the  Bethlehem  Steel  Coi^oration  testified  in  Decem- 
ber, 1920,  that  it  was  the  policy  of  his  company  not 
to  sell  steel  to  contractors  who  operate  union  shops. 
That  is  to  say,  the  open  shop  in  this  case  is  a  mere 
camouflage  for  "  union  smashing "  and  really  means 
a  non-union  shop  policy. 

In  considering  the  recent  agitation  for  the  open 
shop,  attention  should  be  called  to  a  statement  issued 
by  the  Commission  on  Church  and  Social  Service  of 
the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  and  published  in  the 
Survey  for  January  15,  1921.  This  statement  which 
was  very  similar  to  a  statement  made  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Social  Action  of  the  National  Catholic  Wel- 
fare Council  was  in  part  as  follows : 

The     relations     between     employers     and     workers 
throughout  the   United  States  are  seriously  affected  at 
1  Furuseth,  The  Open  Shop,  p.  34. 


130  American  Trade  Unionism 


this  moment  by  a  campaign  which  is  being  conducted  for 
the  "open-shop"  policy  —  the  so-called  "American 
plan  "  of  employment.  These  terms  are  now  being  fre- 
quently used  to  designate  establishments  that  are  defi- 
nitely anti-union.  Obviously  a  shop  of  this  kind  is  not 
an  "open  shop"  but  a  "closed  shop"  —  closed  against 
members  of  labor  unions Many  disinter- 
ested persons  are  convinced  that  an  attempt  is  being 
made  to  destroy  the  organized  labor  movement.  Any 
such  attempt  must  be  viewed  with  apprehension  by  fair- 
minded  people. 


CHAPTER  XI 

UNIOX   POLICIES 

THE  modern  trade-union  is  essentially  an  asso- 
ciation of  wage-earners  whose  purpose  is  the 
selling  of  labor  power  to  employers  for  a  stipulated 
sum.  However,  not  only  wages  but  also  conditions 
and  hours  of  labor  are  considered  and  so  trade- 
unionism  has  many  social  implications.  The  de- 
velopment of  unionism  has  brought  about  certain 
policies  and  practices  which  may  now  be  briefly 
considered. 

i.     The  Union  Label 

The  union  label  is  a  distinctive  mark  placed  upon 
goods  made  by  members  of  a  union.  The  label  en- 
ables the  consumer  to  buy  only  union-made  goods 
presumably  produced  under  better  conditions  than 
other  goods  not  so  similarly  marked.  The  union 
label  is  said  to  have  originated  in  California  in  op- 
position to  cheap  labor.  It  has  been  considered  that 
it  was  first  used  by  the  cigar  makers  in  1875,  al- 
though it  is  now  claimed  they  were  preceded  by  a 
carpenters'  eight-hour  league,  which  furnished  a 
start  to  all  planing  mills  running  on  the  eight-hour 
plan,  so  that  they  would  be  enabled  to  identify  the 
work  of  the  ten-hour  mills.     Some  sixty  unions  make 

131 


132  American  Trade  Unionism 

use  of  labels  and  cards.  The  label  is  used  by  such 
unions  as  the  Typographical,  Bakery  and  Confec- 
tionery Workers,  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  Barbers' 
(card),  United  Hatters'  and  Glove  Workers  and 
others.  A  persistent  and  continual  demand  for 
union-made  goods  means  that  the  market  for  goods 
produced  under  sweated  or  unfair  conditions  will  be 
much  restricted  if  not  eliminated  entirely.  The 
worker  as  consumer  has  a  latent  power  in  the  use  of 
the  label  for  the  betterment  of  all  workers.  A  de- 
mand for  the  goods  produced  by  one  trade  increases 
the  buying  power  in  that  trade  and  thus  a  demand 
for  goods  produced  in  other  trades ;  for,  in  other 
words,  the  buying  power  is  increased  all  around.  The 
general  consumer,  also,  is  assured,  says  the  trade- 
unionist,  that  the  label  guarantees  sanitary  condi- 
tions of  production  and  so  freedom  from  infectious 
diseases.  The  union  label  in  so  far  as  it  stands  for 
good  workmanship,  quality  and  a  fair  price  is  still 
but  a  partially  developed  asset  of  trade-unionism. 

^.     Jurisdictional  Disputes 

Jurisdictional  disputes  between  trade-unions  may 
be  likened  to  family  quarrels  or  to  sectional  disputes 
within  a  nation  and  in  all  these  cases  are  a  menace 
to  the  welfare  of  the  institution  involved.  Juris- 
dictional disputes  are  a  source  of  weakness  in  trade- 
unionism  and  are  generally  regarded  as  such.  Presi- 
dent Gompcrs  lias  said  that  "  such  disputes  threaten 


Union  Policies  133 

the  very  existence  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  and  have  aroused  the  most  bitter  feuds  and 
trade  wars."  Jurisdictional  disputes  may  be  divided 
into  four  classes :  ( 1 )  Territorial  or  geographical, 
(2)  demarcation  or  boundar}',  (3)  conflicts  between 
trade-unions  and  industrial  unions,  and  (4)  or- 
ganization. Territorial  disputes  arise  when  two  or 
more  trade-unions  come  into  conflict  over  the  ter- 
ritorial limit  of  their  authority.  Demarcation  or 
boundary  disputes  result  from  two  or  more  unions 
claiming  the  right  to  do  a  certain  kind  of  work. 
These  demarcation  disputes  are  the  most  common. 
Such  questions  arise,  should  carpenters  or  plumbers 
bore  holes  for  pipes  in  wooden  floors.^  Should  a  tile 
worker  be  called  in  if  the  floor  is  a  tile  one?  An  ex- 
treme example  is  afforded  by  the  dispute  over  the 
installation  of  a  vacuum  cleaning  system  in  the  Mar- 
shall Field  and  Company  building  in  Chicago.  The 
work  was  interrupted  by  disputes  between  plumbers 
and  steam  fitters  about  who  should  do  the  work. 
Several  strikes  were  called  and  work  on  a  two  mil- 
lion dollar  job  was  delayed  for  days  on  account  of 
an  original  dispute  over  eight  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  work,  and  it  was  even  proposed  as  a  solution  of 
the  difficulty  that  the  system  should  be  torn  out 
entirely. 

Conflicts  between  trade-unions  and  industrial 
unions  cause  a  good  deal  of  friction.  The  United 
Mine   Workers    as    an    industrial    union    enrolls    all 


134)  American  Trade  Unionism 

workers  in  and  about  the  mines.  The  question,  how- 
ever, arises :  To  what  union  should  the  engineers 
belong?  The  Brewery  Workers  have  likewise  had 
trouble  with  the  coopers',  painters'  and  teamsters' 
unions.  Organization  disputes  arise  for  the  most 
part  from  the  division  of  labor  within  a  trade.  Spe- 
cialization, for  example,  in  the  printing  trade  has  led 
to  the  formation  of  new  unions  by  the  pressmen, 
bookbinders  and  stereotypers.  These  belonged  or- 
iginally to  the  Typographical  Union  and  broke  away 
after  more  or  less  conflict. 

The  cause  of  these  various  jurisdictional  disputes 
is,  for  the  most  part,  unadulterated  selfishness.  Ac- 
companied as  they  are  by  strikes  by  big  and  small 
unions,  jurisdictional  disputes  alienate  public  sym- 
pathy. Even  the  union  contractor  may  be  ruined 
without  any  fault  of  his  own  by  internecine  warfare 
between  rival  unions.  Several  remedies  have  been 
proposed.  One  is  that  unions  be  formed  on  indus- 
trial lines.  Professor  Whitney,  who  has  made  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  subject,  says,  in  substance, 
that  the  frequency  of  strikes  among  the  building 
trades  is  due  to  disorganization.  The  labor  troubles 
are  chiefly  jurisdictional  disputes,  the  only  remedy 
for  which  is  an  abandonment  of  the  innumerable 
craft  unions,  which  cause  disorganization  within  the 
industry,  and  the  substitution  of  a  single  all-embrac- 
ing union  of  the  industrial  type.  Another  sugges- 
tion is  the  establishment  of  boards  or  committees  for 


Union  Policies  136 

the  adjustment  of  such  disputes  and  this  has  already 
been  tried  to  some  extent.  It  has  also  been  said  that 
the  essential  element  in  the  lessening  of  disputes  is 
the  development  of  a  spirit  of  fraternity. 

3.     Benefit  Features 

British  trade-unions  arose  out  of  friendly  societies 
and  so  have  developed  benefit  features  to  a  greater 
extent  than  the  unions  in  this  country.  Strike  ben- 
efits are  paid  by  most  American  unions  to  workers 
out  on  a  strike  duly  authorized  by  the  national  union 
as  has  been  brought  out  in  the  chapter  on  the 
Control  of  Strikes.  The  most  varied  policy  is  found 
in  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  which  pays 
strike,  sick,  death,  traveling  and  unemployment 
benefits.  The  International  Typographical  Union 
in  1892  established  the  Home  for  Union  Printers  at 
Colorado  Springs,  Colo.,  and  in  1907  adopted  a 
pension  plan  for  members  complying  with  certain 
conditions.  The  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engi- 
neers have  organized  a  mutual  life  and  accident 
insurance  association  which  owns  a  large  business 
block  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  has  been  well  managed. 
The  Order  of  Railway  Conductors  have  likewise  a 
mutual  insurance  system.  It  is  estimated  that  over 
five  millions  of  dollars  a  year  is  paid  by  unions  in 
this  country  in  the  way  of  benefits.  The  effect  on 
the  unions  paying  benefits  is  helpful  in  that  a  benefit 
system  builds   up   and   stabilizes   membership,   pro- 


136  American  Trade  Unionism 

motes  conservative  policies  by  the  creation  of  re- 
sponsibility for  payment,  and  strengthens  the  na- 
tional union  by  centralizing  control.  The  social 
effects  are  also  good  because  based  on  mutual  aid. 

4.     Educational   Development 

A  most  promising  tendency  among  trade-unions 
in  recent  years  is  the  interest  taken  in  education. 
Trade-union  schools  and  colleges  have  been  estab- 
lished in  many  centers.  The  Ladies'  Garment  Work- 
ers' Union  established  in  1916  in  New  York  City  a 
workers'  university.  The  work  consists  largely  in 
evening  classes  and  lecture  courses  for  members  of 
tlie  union  and  their  families,  carried  on  in  various 
parts  of  the  city.  English  is  the  favorite  subject, 
but  literature,  economics  and  public  speaking  are 
also  covered.  Branches  have  been  established  in 
other  cities.  In  1919  the  Workers'  College  of  Seattle 
was  founded  by  the  Central  Labor  Council  of 
Seattle.  The  Boston  Trade-Union  College  was  also 
organized  in  1919.  It  is  estimated  that  at  the 
present  writing  there  are  no  less  than  twenty-five 
trade-union  colleges  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
The  first  resident  labor  college  established  in  this 
country  is  Brookwood  College  at  Katonah,  New 
York.  The  college  was  established  "  to  serve  the 
labor  movement  and  through  it  society."  The  guid- 
ing principles  announced  are  academic  freedom, 
student     self-government,    and     cooperative    living. 


Union  Policies  137 

Bryn  Mawr  College  hafs  had  two  consecutive  summer 
schools  for  the  benefit  of  women  members  of  trade- 
unions,  and  the  work  is  reported  as  very  successful, 
the  students  manifesting  a  great  hunger  for  knowl- 
edge and  bringing  home  to  their  instructors  the  need 
of  reality.  The  study  of  economics,  history  and 
political  science  by  tlie  rank  and  file  will  bring  a 
Avider  outlook  and  thus  tend  to  widen  the  scope  and 
influence  of  trade-unionism. 

5.     Conclusion 

The  facts  brought  out  in  this  study  indicate  that 
trade-unionism  is  a  product  of  industrial  conditions. 
Development  and  organization  in  industiy  on  the 
one  hand  has  been  accompanied  by  the  development 
of  organized  labor  on  the  other.  Trade-unionism  is 
a  social  movement,  a  product  of  social  conditions 
and  is  in  no  sense  the  result  of  the  work  of  a  few 
irresponsible  agitators.  The  economic  history  of 
the  country  shows  that  unionism  is  both  necessary 
and  inevitable.  Large-scale  production,  the  growth 
of  corporations  and  the  development  of  combination 
in  industry  and  business  are  among  the  causes  back 
of  the  development  of  unionism.  The  laborer  needs 
the  bargaining  power  coming  from  organization,  and 
he  also  needs  in  other  ways  protection  from  the 
mercenary  and  unscrupulous  employer.  The  social 
aspects  of  the  case  loom  still  larger.  Society  should 
be  protected.     Social  interests  are  lost  sight  of  by 


138  American  Trade  Unioiusm 

both  employer  and  laborer.  The  rights  of  capital 
and  the  rights  of  labor  are  stressed  by  each  side,  but 
it  should  be  remembered,  that  there  is  no  right  which 
does  not  have  its  opposite  in  the  way  of  duty.  When 
both  employers  and  organized  labor  are  stubborn 
and  unyielding,  the  general  public  is  beginning  to 
say :  "A  plague  on  both  your  houses."  Social 
interests  should  be  considered  in  the  settlement  of  all 
difficulties  between  employers  and  employees,  both 
sides  should  set  their  houses  in  order.  Too  much 
power  on  either  side  is  injurious  to  public  welfare. 
Most  trade-unionists  have  learned  that  violence  and 
intimidation  alienate  public  sympathy  because  law 
and  order  are  necessary  in  government.  The  power 
to  discharge  is  a  powerful  weapon  in  the  hands  of 
the  employer  and  its  opposite  is  the  power  to  strike 
on  the  part  of  the  laborer.  Should  the  strike  be 
made  illegal?  Should  the  boycott  be  allowed?  Is 
peaceful  picketing  possible?  These  and  similar  ques- 
tions arise.  Trade-unionism  in  some  form  has  evi- 
dently come  to  stay,  as  have  also  coi-porations  and 
employers'  associations.  The  great  need  of  today 
seems  to  be  their  wise  direction  and  regulation  in  the 
interests  of  social  welfare.  This  can  be  brought 
about  only  by  an  impartial  and  thorough  study  of 
the  facts.  Justice  and  fairness  should  be  the  basis, 
for  in  the  long  run  the  welfare  of  the  laborer  and 
the  welfare  of  society  are  inseparable. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Adams,  T.  Sewall,  and  Sumner,  Helen  L.,  Labor  Problems, 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1919. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  "The  Present  Labor 
Situation,"  Philadelphia,  January,  1917. 

A&hworth,  John  H.,  The  Helper  and  American  Trade  Unions, 
The  Johns  Hopkins  Press,  1915. 

Barnett,  G.  E.,  The  Printers:  A  Study  in  American  Trade 
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Beard,  Mary,  A  Short  History  of  the  American  Labor  Move- 
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Brooks,  John  G.,  American  Syndicalism;  The  I.  W.  W.,  The 
Macmillan  Company,  1913. 

Carlton,  Frank  T.,  The  History  and  Problems  of  Organized 
Labor,  D.  C.  Heath  &  Company,'l920. 

Commons,  John  R.,  History  of  Labour  in  the  United  States, 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1918. 

Commons,  John  R.,  Labor  and  Administration,  The  Mac- 
millan Company,  1913. 

Commons,  John  R.,  Trade  Unionisin  and  Labor  Problems, 
Ginn  and  Company,  1921. 

Commons,  John  R.,  and  Andrews,  John  B.,  Principles  of 
Labor  Legislation,  Harper  &  Brothers,  1920. 

Ely,  Richard  T.,  Outlines  of  Economics,  The  Macmillan 
Company,  1916. 

Furuseth,  Andrew,  The  Open  Shop,  H.  W.  Wilson  Co.,  1921. 

Glocker,  Theodore  W.,  The  Government  of  American  Trade 
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Groat,  G.  G.,  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Organized 
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Hollander,  Jacob  H.,  American  Citizenship  and  Economic 
Welfare,  The  Johns   Hopkins   Press,   1919. 

Hollander,  Jacob  H.,  and  Barnett,  George  E.,  Studies  in 
American  Trade  Unionism,  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  1906. 

Hoxie,  Robert  F.,  Trade  Unionism  in  the  United  States, 
D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1917. 

Janes,  George  M.,  The  Control  of  Strikes  in  American  Trade 
Unions,  The  Johns  Hopkins  Press,  1916. 


Bibliography 


Lescohicr,  Don  D.,  The  Labor  Market,  The  Macmillan  Com- 
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McCabe,  D.  A.,  The  Standard  Rate  in  American  Trad« 
Unions,  The  Johns  Hopkins  Press,  1912. 

Spedden,  Ernest  R.,  The  Trade  Union  Label,  The  Johns 
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Stockett,  J.  Noble,  The  Arbitral  Determinatiwi  of  Railway 
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Stockton,  Frank  T.,  The  Closed  Shop  in  American  Trade 
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Suffern,  Arthur  E.,  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  in  the  Coal 
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Tridon,  Andre,  The  iXew  Unionism,  B.  W.  Huebseh,  191(>. 

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